Reviews Of Oil Spill Dispersant

By Author: sudarshan singh
Total Articles: 327
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Oil dispersants are used to reduce the effect of oil spills by changing the chemical and physical properties of the oil. By enhancing the amount of oil that physically mixes into the water, dispersants can reduce the potential that a surface slick will contaminate shoreline habitats. The use of chemical dispersants has long been controversial. It includes recommended steps to be taken to better support policymakers faced with making hard choices regarding the use of dispersants as part of spill contingency planning efforts or during actual spills. Dispersants and dispersed oil are particularly toxic to corals, leading scientists to call for a ban on dispersant use near coral reefs. Dispersants and dispersed oil harm the early stages of corals by increasing death rates, reducing settlement on reefs, and altering behavior. A formulation of one of the dispersants being used in the BP spill response, Corexit 9527 has been shown to prevent fertilization of mature eggs and hinder the development of young life stages of reef-building corals. Dispersants create a toxic environment for fish by releasing harmful oil break-down products ...
... into the water. Dispersed oil has been shown to be toxic to fish at all life stages, from eggs to larval fish to adults, according to numerous laboratory studies that have tested a variety of species. Dispersants are chemicals that are sprayed on a surface oil slick to break down the oil into smaller droplets that more readily mix with the water. Dispersants do not reduce the amount of oil entering the environment but push the effects of the spill underwater. While dispersants make the oil spill less visible, dispersants and dispersed oil under the ocean surface are hazardous for marine life. Dispersants were being used in the BP oil spill to reduce the chance that the surface oil slick would reach shoreline habitats like marshes and mangroves or come into contact with animals at the surface. By mixing the oil below the water surface, dispersants increase the exposure of a wide array of marine life in the water and on the ocean floor to the spilled oil. Dispersants also decrease the ability to skim or absorb oil from the ocean surface. Dispersants contain both surface-active agents and solvent systems. Each surfactant molecule has both a water-soluble ‘head’ group and an oil-soluble ‘tail’.These molecules diffuse through the oil to the oil/water interface under the slick after contacting an oil slick on water.

Oil spill dispersants are controversial because unlike traditional cleanup techniques where booms and skimmers are used in attempts to remove oil altogether from the water's surface, dispersants do not reduce the total amount of oil entering the sea. The chemical agents used as dispersants work by reducing the tension between oil and water thereby enhancing the natural process of dispersion that takes place when waves mix large numbers of small oil droplets into the water beneath a spill. Oil dispersant is that dish soap, lowering the tension between oil and water and allowing small droplets of oil to break away from the larger clumps. But natural turbulence is key: in calm water, the dispersant would not help much just as the measuring cup resting at the bottom of the soapy sink would not clean itself. Dispersants have never been applied on this scale, leaving environmental scientists guessing about the consequences. Chemical dispersants remove the oil from the surface of the water and into the water column. Oil spill dispersants can be used concentrated or diluted to a ratio of 1:10 depending on the contamination level. It is an efficient and environmental friendly product containing no hydrocarbons. Oil dispersants break up slicks, enhancing the amount of oil that physically mixes into the water column and reducing the potential that oil will contaminate shoreline habitats, marine mammals or other organisms in coastal ecosystems. Using dispersants increases the exposure of water column and sea floor life to spilled oil at the same time.

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