|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
Mopping Up Oil Spills
| Article
# : |
10749 |
|
|
Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
|
| Issue
Date : |
6 / 1993 |
2,633 Words |
| Author
: |
Jenny Garden
Jenny Garden is an investigative writer and free-lance editor
located in Kirkland, Washington. |
We've become distressingly familiar recently with news of oil spills on the high seas-tankers leaking, breaking apart, blindly running into rocks, shoals, their own anchors, and each other. Dead fish, dying birds, and oil-soaked marine mammals wash up onto tarry beaches. Ensuing public outcry meets with defensive oil company rebuttals, and the problem grows.
In theory, accidentals spills are preventable. Preventive measures have been mandated for tankers and are slowly being implemented: double hulls and bottoms; closer supervision of all personnel; special pilots for particularly treacherous areas. But oil is spilled by all kinds of vessels, as well as by corroded pipes and worn-out valves. Despite precautions, accidents will happen, so it is even more urgent to render spills harmless when they do occur.
The best response to oil spills would be a swift and efficient one; the faster and more intensive the response, the more oil is recoverable. The goal remains to retrieve the maximum amount of oil possible from the marine environment, including the shallows and shoreline.
Common recovery materials.
Presently used recovery materials were developed largely by the 3M Company from polymers of hydrocarbons that are pulled into fibers resembling cotton. These fibers are extremely adsorbent-fluid coats the fibers on the outside as opposed to being absorbed into them. Polymer fibers, combined with other polypropylenes, are the stuff of oil-swabbing booms, bags, pillows, and pads.
These sorbents are initially cheap, picking up as much as 25 times their own weight; but within 15 minutes of maximum saturation they lose over 50 percent of the adsorbed oil and their cost starts adding up.
Along with the spilled oil, polypropylene sorbents take on water and become unwieldy. Although ostensibly reusable, reusage generally is neither feasible nor cost-effective. Once used, polypropylene sorbents are almost impossible to dispose of due to weight and bulk. Theoretically, they are incinerable, but few incinerators are adequately equipped to prevent the escape of toxic smoke into the atmosphere.
Following the Exxon Valdez disaster, the state of Alaska ordered a new advanced-design incinerator. It was delivered minus several promised safeguards and went unused in
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
