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OIL SPILL DISPERSANTS: MECHANISMS OF ACTION AND LABORATORY TESTS
Citation:
Clayton, Jr., J., J. Payne, AND J. Farlow. OIL SPILL DISPERSANTS: MECHANISMS OF ACTION AND LABORATORY TESTS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/A-93/228.
Description:
Discussions are presented for (1) the mechanism of action of chemical dispersants for oil spills, (2) factors affecting performance of dispersants and its measurement, (3) some common laboratory methods that have been used to test dispersant performance, (4) a brief summary of dispersant applications and their performance in field trials and spills-of-opportunity, and (5) recommendations for future laboratory studies. he discussion of laboratory methods for performance testing presents information regarding the approach used for general laboratory tests, detailed information for a number of the more commonly used tests, and similarities and differences among tests. ifferences among tests are important because they may be responsible for not only significant differences in results between laboratory testing methods but also poor correlations between laboratory results and data from field tests. our general types of laboratory testing methods are considered: (a) tank tests, (b) shake/flask tests, (c) interfacial surface tension tests, and (d) flume tests. or each test considered, descriptions are presented for the laboratory apparatus required, brief summaries of the testing procedures, differences among methods, and considerations of how a particular test design might affect results. ith the understanding that the purpose of this book centers on laboratory testing, a brief discussion is presented of field trials that have involved dispersant applications. nformation is presented for general approaches used in studies, limitations encountered in such efforts, and how realistic it is to compare laboratory results with field tests. rief descriptions are also presented for a number of rapid field tests for estimating dispersant performance. imitations inherent to measurements obtained with the latter tests are discussed.