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Analysis of Emissions from In Situ Oil Burns in the Presence of Ice
Citation:
Gullett, B. AND J. Aurell. Analysis of Emissions from In Situ Oil Burns in the Presence of Ice. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-21/300, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
This report discusses the emissions from burning oil in ice-laden waters. Controlled amounts of oil were burned in water/ice mixtures and the emissions were sampled from the plume using a remotely piloted aircraft with an emission sampler package. This work begins to define expected emissions from burns that attempt to remediate the environmental effects of oil spill disasters. These results would be useful for technologists that conduct oil burns and for policy and decision makers that regulate the use of controlled, in situ oil burns.
Description:
Emissions from in situ oil burning in the presence of ice-laden fresh water were measured at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Cold Regions Research Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, New Hampshire over a three-day period in April 2021. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) used their “Kolibri” emission sampler aboard a quadcopter unmanned aircraft system (UAS) flown and commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Coast Guard Research and Development Center (USCG-RDC). Fresh and emulsified Alaska North Slope (ANS) oil, 10-30 L each, were poured into squares (1 m2) cut into a 20 – 25 cm thick ice sheet in CRREL’s water filled Geophysical Research Facility (GRF) tank and ignited by propane torch. The amount of ice coverage, oil volume, and both fresh and emulsified oil comprised the test variables. The Kolibri measured particulate matter of aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5), total carbon, elemental carbon, and organic carbon. Real time measurements of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) coupled with the PM carbon measurements allowed for determination of combustion efficiency, both for gas phase and gas plus particle phases. Sampling with the UAS/Kolibri was successful and showed that PM2.5 emission factors varied at least three-fold, declining under conditions with greater combustion efficiency.