A Comprehensive Study on Causes of Oil Spills and Remediation - a Review

ACTA SCIENTIFIC MICROBIOLOGY (ISSN: 2581-3226) Volume 2 Issue 9 September 2019 Review Article

A Comprehensive Study on Causes of Oil Spills and Remediation - A Review

Ansh Kapoor*, Mayur Rai, Divya Agrawal and Sunil Kumar Sharma Department of Petroleum Engineering and Energy Studies, DIT University Dehradun, India *Corresponding Author: Ansh Kapoor, Department of Petroleum Engineering and Energy Studies, DIT University Dehradun, India. Received: July 31,2019; Published: August 28, 2019

DOI: 10.31080/ASMI.2019.02.0355

Abstract This review aims at spreading awareness about the serious issue of oil spills. Till date, a number of discoveries have been made for its treatment. We will discuss about the remediation techniques for oil spills. The focus is mainly on marine spills, since the events of spills have occurred majorly in marine environment. The remediation techniques involve the traditional use of boom barriers,

meshes, use of CuO nanowires, biosorption and use of lodestone particles. We will also discuss about how oil spills can be hazardous. dispersants or emulsifiers, development of nanofibrillated cellulose sponge, natural disintegration of oil, development of wetting We will discuss about the major oil spills occurred till date and how they have affected the ecosystem. There will be a brief discussion about causes of oil spills and the applications used in its treatment. Keywords:

Oil Spills; Environmental Degradation; Biosorption; Emulsification; Nano-materials

Abbreviation Methodology E&P: Exploration and Production; ORMS: Oil Related Marine Snow; Over the period of time various remediation techniques have been developed for the treatment of oil spills. The remediation

NFC: Nanofibrillated Cellulose; VLCC: Very Large Crude Carrier: WAF: Water Accommodated Fraction; PAH: Polycyclic Aromatic techniques taken up by E&P companies can be classified as: (a) Hydrocarbon;Introduction LC: Lethal Concentration. physicala) (b)Physical chemical techniques: (c) thermal and (d) biological. Oil spill is the release of liquid hydrocarbon in the environment barriers/ booms to the scene. They crowd the oil above the surface and then it is removed It involves using deploying skimmer ofmachines. floating due to natural disaster, vandalism, crashing of systems and human - activities which may include inability to handle the machinery, etc. Booms can be of different types like foam-filled, Inflat When oil is spilled it does not mix with water immediately, it forms booms. These barriers slow the spread of oil and contain a layer that is a few cms thick. This slick has to be removed as it itable in aand limited self-Inflating, region. Booms fire booms, are used and to trash reduce and the debris pos- blocks the oxygen pathway for aquatic life and harms the marine sibility of polluting shorelines and other resources, and to ecosystem. Oil can be spilled in marine environment by offshore help make recovery easier. rigs or oil tankers that have an accident or carry out the tank clean- b) Chemical techniques: It involves changing of chemical ing process. Exposure to chemicals during the containment pro- pr cess can cause cardiac arrest or arterial congestion in workers. The butoperties also protect of oil. Forthe thismarine purpose environment. we use dispersants They reduce or spilled oil intoxicates the intertidal species and cause nervous sys- theemulsifiers surface tensionthat not of only water prevent to facilitate the oil thorough from spreading mixing the movement of oil spills and make them unpredictable. Oil spill liquid. tem breakdown in fishes. Ocean tide, currents and weather change and produce a stable and uniform emulsified or dispersed may involve spillage of heavy or light oil.

Citation: Ansh Kapoor., et al. “A Comprehensive Study on Causes of Oil Spills and Remediation - A Review". Acta Scientific Microbiology 157-159. 2.9 (2019): A Comprehensive Study on Causes of Oil Spills and Remediation - A Review

158 c) Thermal technique: This technique involves gathering of oil • Cu surfaces with laser induced microholes and CuO nanowires- CuO nanowires are produced on Cu substrate due to presence - tionin a specifiedinvolves mainlyregion twoand requirements-burning it in the fresh presence spill and of speciala calm pass a nanolaser through Cu surface to produce microholes in windequipments environment like igniters, in which fire oilresistant can be booms,burnt quickly etc. Its applicawithout itof whichheat and lead oxygen to increased but they adhesion are exfoliated of nanowires. (shed) Thequickly. surface We any loss of aquatic life. d) Biological technique: In this technique bacteria can be add- becomes superhydrophilic (i.e., oil rises up and water is stuck ed to spill site which is called bioaugmentation to biodegrade Resultsin the and pores) Discussion and can be used to treat oil spill. the oil. We can use biostimulation that involves addition of nu- As a result of old and damaged equipment, human error, and trients to already present oil degraders to stimulate growth. - leases oil into the environment. The largest spill has released tens Mexico and along the Atlantic coast can also be used. Bacterial bad luck, extracting oil from ground and moving it to refineries re speciesSpartina present or Cord in grass Spartina found plant along tissues coasts can of naturally Northern disinte Gulf of- millions of gallons of oil and has resulted in fouled coastlines, dead grate the oil. Studies at oil spill impacted coasts indicated that and injured wildlife. The most destructive oil spills are: the bacterial communities inside the tissues of the plant shift- 1. The Amoco Cadiz Oil Spill (1978)- The Amoco Cadiz, a breaking down the oil. As in 2015, the best bacteria is to be - ed and incorporated (combined) more bacteria that helped in lion gallons of light crude oil, ran aground on shallow rocks very large crude carrier (VLCC) stocked with nearly 69 mil so that a sponge can be made of it in lab which can be used off the coast of Brittany practicallyidentified from to treat that oil. community which can treat oil quite well , France, on the morning of March Some other methods are as follows barrels16, 1978. of Thisoil was spill spilled was caused which due polluted to bad about sea condition 200 miles and of environment (storm). In this spill about 1.6 to 1.7 In million 1992, • - US oil giant Amoco has decided not to appeal against the US lated cellulose was developed by an institute. It soaks up French coast and killed millions of invertebrates. Sponge of chemically modified wood called nanofibril sponges which is extracted from cellulose containing ma- court order that it must pay US$200 million to the French oil and leaves water behind. NFC is the basic material for terials by adding water to them and pressing the aqueous 2. government in damage to fisheries and tourist amenities. pulp through several narrow nozzles at high pressure. oil tanker Castillo de Bellver in August 1983 was responsible This produces a suspension with gel-like properties con- The Castillo de Bellver Oil Spill (1983) - A fire aboard the

is not in practice yet. It was in early development stage Oceanfor the roughlytanker’s capsizing.70 miles from When Cape the fire Town, broke South out onAfrica. August In intaining 2015. long and interconnected cellulose nanofibres. It this6, the spill Castillo about de1.8 Bellver million was barrels located of oil, in drifted the South to within Atlantic 24 • Dispersion of lodestone particles that stick to the oil and miles of the coast before it sank in deep water. isolate it from water through magnetism- We use magne- 3. - d oil is absent it sinks into water. This is a solution through 20,BP’s 2010, Deepwater after a Horizon surge of Oil natural Spill (2010)gas blasted - The through largest aacci ce- magnetismtite (also called as magnetitelordstone) isas theit sticks original to the reason oil and behind when mentental well oil spill cap inthat history had recently began in been the Gulfinstalled of Mexico to seal on a April well discovery of magnetic force. • Development of MnO coated inverse wetting meshes- due to the negligence of the workers and members, where it 2 ignited,drilled by killing the Deepwater 11 workers Horizon and injuring oil platform. 17. In this It was spill caused about MnO2 nano-crystal coated inverse wettability meshes can be of 2 types: billion dollar was paid by the United States for the damage. • Superhydrophobicity mesh- It attracts heavy 4. 206 million gallons of -oil The spilled 2004 from Taylor Texas oil spill to Florida is an ongoing and 60 oil and water is deposited in mesh pores. It re- sp duces contact angle of heavy oil. Taylor oil spill (2004) • Underwater Superoleophobicity mesh- It re- ill located in the Gulf of Mexico, around 11 miles (18 km) duces contact angle of water and helps to rise Ivan.off the As coast of 2018 of state it was of estimated Louisiana, that which 300 resulted to 700 barrels from the of up whereas light oil is stuck in pores. oildestruction per day are of abeing Taylor spilled. Energy Taylor oil platform Energy reachedduring Hurricane an agree-

159 2. Bing Chen., et al. “Chapter 22: Marine Oil Spills—Prepared- in order to fund the response to the spill according to The Wash- ingtonment with Post. the federal government to establish a $666 million trust ness and Countermeasures”. World Seas: an Environmental A research took place in 2018 which developed a relation 3. BaiyuEvaluation Zhang., (Second et al. “ChapterEdition), (2019):21: Marine 407-426. Oil Spills—Oil Pollu- between oil spill dispersants and formation of oil-related ma- - [1]. Oil spillage causes formation of oil slick tion, Sources and Effects”. World Seas: an Environmental Eval that blocks pathway of oxygen through water thus harming the rine snow (ORMS) 4. Jeanuation Strelitz., (Second et Edition), al. “Self-reported (2019): 391-406. myocardial infarction and aquatic life forms [3]. People living in close proximity with oil spill fatal coronary heart disease among oil spill workers and com- have better chances of catching a heart disease than those liv- Environ- ing far away [4]. A research took place in 2019 on factors of oil mental Research munity members 5 years after Deepwater Horizon” spill, preventive measures, risks caused and dealing with oil spill 5. Danielle A Philibert., 168 (2019):et al 70-79. - [2]. Magnetite nanoparticles ered oil and dispersants differentially affect the early life stag- and yeast-based magnetic bionanocomposite emerged as cure of . “Field-collected crude oil, weath (understanding oil trajectory helps) Environmental Research oil spill . MnO2 nanocrystal coated meshes exhibit quick separation rate for the permeable liquid and high intrusion pressure es of freshwater and saltwater fishes”. [6] 168 (2019): 70-79. [7]. CuO nanowires are pro- 6. Karina B Debs., et al. “Oil spill cleanup employing magnetite duced on Cu substrate due to presence of heat and oxygen but they (>1.38 kPa) for the intercepted liquid Journal of Environmental Management [8]. The monoliths with macroporous nanoparticles and yeast-based magnetic bionanocomposite”. 7. Jintao Wang., et al. “A pair of MnO2 nanocrystal 230 (2019): coatings 405-412. with are exfoliated (shed) quickly stimulation [9]. - structure can undergo switchable wettability under reversible pH Separation and Purification Technology 209 Conclusions inverse wettability on metal meshes for efficient oil/wa ter separation”. The type of oil spilled matters because different types of oil 8. Si(2019): Ying Khew., 119-127. et al behave differently in the environment, and animals and birds are adhesion of CuO nanowires on copper substrate and its ap- affected differently by different types of oil. We should distinguish . “Nanosecond laserApplied ablation Surface for Science enhanced don’t remain in aquatic environment for a long time, whereas plication for oil-water separation”. 465 between light and heavy oils. Light oils are very volatile and they (2019): 995-1002. heavy oils appear black and persist in environment for a long time. 9. et al switchable wettability for recyclable oil separation and recov- ZanruJournal Guo., of Colloid. “Macroporous and Interface monoliths Science with pH-induced concentration of source oil, weathered crude oil and source oil Over the period of time, studies have been made on effects of WAF 194. ery”. 534 (2019): 183- and dispersant have almost similar effect in both freshwater and with dispersant on freshwater and saltwater fishes. Weathering Volume 2 Issue 9 September 2019 © All rights are reserved by Ansh Kapoor., et al. saltwater. Except that PAH concentration in source oil + dispersant WAF in saltwater is slightly higher than freshwater equivalent. the damage caused to a particular species. Exposure to these oils Higher the LC50 (lethal conc.) value in terms of %WAF greater - - can cause heart electrophysiology dysfunction (heart muscle dam age) and nervous system breakdown. It can also cause enzyme en hancementBibliography which may or may not be beneficial to a species.

1. et al. “A critical review of marine snow in the context of oil spills and oil spill dispersant treatment with fo- Odd G Brakstad., Marine Pollution Bul- letin cus on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill”. 135 (2018): 346-356.

Citation: Ansh Kapoor., et al. “A Comprehensive Study on Causes of Oil Spills and Remediation - A Review". Acta Scientific Microbiology 157-159. 2.9 (2019):