Emissions from in situ, at sea oil burns and assessment of combustion efficiency
Citation:
Gullett, B. Emissions from in situ, at sea oil burns and assessment of combustion efficiency. Oil Spill Response Technology Workshop, Virtual, February 22 - 25, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
This presentation discusses the six scenarios since 2010 where sampling of the emissions from in situ, at-sea oil burns took place. These efforts characterized emissions from the plumes of oil burns. Scant data had been available prior to these campaigns. The data resulting from these measurement may be used by response managers to determine the course of action during oil spills. The results will be of interest to emergency responders those decision-makers.
Description:
In situ, at-sea burning (ISB) of oil spills is a commonly accepted method for reducing environmental impacts. Assessing effects of resulting air pollution has been made difficult by our limited ability to representatively and effectively sample the combustion products. The development of new technologies for ISB have increased the need for improved methods to ascertain improvements in the combustion process, whether they be on-land simulations or actual at-sea ISB. EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) has undertaken seven campaigns to assess emissions from ISB, from at-sea measurements during the Deepwater Horizon disaster to more recent land-based ISB simulations conducted with multiple federal agencies. ORD has developed and utilized a suite of sampling and monitoring systems for assessing airborne emissions, including a system small and light enough to be carried aloft into ISB plumes using Unmanned Aircraft Systems, most particularly multicopters. These systems have been used to assess the combustion efficiency of numerous technologies aimed at improving ISB methods. This paper will discuss these sampling systems and their application to recent ISB technologies.