- Author
- Evans, D. D.
- Title
- In Situ Burning as an Oil Spill Response Technology.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Book or Conf
- Minerals Management Service. Technology Assessment and Research Program for Offshore Minerals Operations. OCS Study MMS 91-0057. 1991 Report. Biennial Report of the Technology Assessment and Research Program, 7th. 1991, Reston, VA, Gregory, J. B.; Smith, C. E.; Tennyson, E. J., Editors, 195-200 p., 1991
- Keywords
- offshore drilling | offshore platforms | oil spills | in situ combustion | water | soot | fuel oils | pollution | crude oil | in situ burning
- Identifiers
- measurement methods; field methods; Navy Farrier Fighting Facility, Norfolk, Virginia; Fire Research Institute, Tokyo, Japan; laboratory tests; field tests; large diameter fires
- Abstract
- Objective: To characterize the process of burning oil spills on water. The Building and Fire Research Laboratory (BFRL) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is conducting research related to safety in offshore drilling and oil spill pollution for Minerals Management Service (MMS), with cooperative funding from U. S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the American Petroleum Institute (API). Technical assistance in measuremnet has been donated by Environment Canada (EC). This research has focused on examining the phenomena associated with crude oil combustion and the impact of using burning as a spill response method. The process of burning crude oil on water as a means to mitigate oil spills has been investigated by a research effort combining both small scale experiments and calculations. As a result of these studies, there has been increased understanding of the burning process including burning rate, heat radiation, smoke emission, smoke composition, and smoke dispersion in the atmosphere (Evans and others, 1990). A key to gaining acceptance of burning as a spill response technique is the demonstration that burning characteristics measured at laboratory scale can be shown to continue in test burns representing the sizes of fires expected in actual operations. Field-scale burn tests are being planned and coordinated jointly by MMS, API, USCG, and EC to document the use of burning technology under conditions simulating actual oil spill cleanup operations. The purpose of this project is to determine the effects of oil spill burning in laboratory and field tests.