BSEE Arctic Oil
ResponseResearch
For the US/CA Northern Oil and Gas Research Forum
.
November 2012, Anchorage, AK
Matthew Quinney, Ohmsett COTR
Who is BSEE?
MMS - Minerals Management Service
BOEMRE - Bureau of Ocean Energy Management,
Regulation and Enforcement
BOEM – Bureau of Ocean
Energy Management
.
BSEE – Bureau of Safety
and Environmental
Enforcement
OSRD - Oil Spill Response Division
Inspections
Unannounced Spill Drills
Oil Spill Response Plans
Regulations and Policy
Research
.
BSEE Oil Spill Response Research
.
http://www.bsee.gov/Research-and-Training/Oil-Spill-Response-Research-(OSRR).aspx
.
• Remote sensing and detection
• Physical and chemical properties of
crude oil
• Mechanical containment and recovery
• Chemical treating agents and
dispersants
• In situ burning
• Deepwater operations
• Arctic operations
• Operation of Ohmsett – The National
Oil Spill Response Test Facility
.
.
.
BSEE Research Process
Solicit ideas
BAA – Broad Agency Announcement
Whites Papers submitted
Proposals requested
Final projects chosen
.
Research for 2012
OSRR 1000 Oil Spill Detection and Mapping under Arctic Sea Ice using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
OSRR 1001 Dispersant Effectiveness, In-Situ Droplet Size Distribution, and Numerical Modeling to Assess
Subsurface Dispersant Injection as a Deepwater Blowout Oil Spill Response Option
OSRR 1002 Acoustic Assessment of Subsea Chemical Dispersant Efficacy
OSRR 1003 Subsea Chemical Dispersant Research
OSRR 1004 Ocean Studies Board Responding to Oils Spills in Arctic Environments
OSRR 1005 Rapidly Deployable Thermal Hydrate Preventer for Subsea Oil Spill Mitigation
OSRR 1006 Development of Real Time Monitoring Protocol for Assessing Volatile Organic Compound Impacts
on Response and Cleanup Workers Safety During Surface and Subsurface Dispersant Operations
OSRR 1007 Burning Behavior of Oil in Ice Channels
OSRR 1008 Technology Systems, Inc. Coordinated Oil-spill Response Network (CORN)
OSRR 1009 Evaluation of Oil Fluorescence Characteristics to Improve Forensic Response Tools
OSRR 1010 Comparison of Physical and Chemical Characteristics of In-Situ Burn Residue and other Environmental Oil
Samples Collected during the Deepwater Horizon Spill Response
OSRR 1011 Evaluation of Feasibility of Conducting Subsea Dispersant Research at Ohmsett
OSRR 1012 Naval Research Laboratory Efficient Atomization and Combustion of Emulsified Crude Oil
.
OSRR 1000
Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution - Oil Spill Detection
and Mapping under Arctic Sea
Ice using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
.
The goal of this project is to evaluate and develop an AUVbased system for detection and mapping of oil in iceinfested waters from underneath the water and/or ice.
 Develop deployment and search strategies
 Develop sensor suite
.
OSRR 1004
National Research Council
(NRC) - Ocean Studies Board
Responding to Oils Spills in
Arctic Environments
.
The National Research Council will assess the current
state of the science regarding oil spill response and
environmental assessment in the Arctic region (with a
specific focus on the regions north of the Bering Strait),
with emphasis on potential impacts in U.S. waters.
• Scenarios
• Preparedness
• Response and Clean Up
• Strategies for Establishing Baselines
OSRR 1007
Burning Behavior of Oil in Ice Channels
The objective of the proposed research is to enable
assessment of the efficiency of in-situ burning of an oil spill
in icy conditions and set a new experimental and modeling
framework to explore burning of oil spills on ice, which will
allow quantifying the efficiency of combustion as well as
point of extinction for liquid fuel spills in icy conditions.
.
Phase I – Small Scale Test
 Test using a small scale test apparatus
 Develop model to predict spread and
burn rate
.
Phase II – Large Scale Test
 Test using large scale (10’ X 18’) ice
matrix
 Reassess model developed in Phase I
.
Research for 2013
 Beginning process
 ICE Month at Ohmsett, Feb – Mar 2013
.
Ohmsett
The National Oil Spill Response Research & Renewable Energy Test Facility
Operated by the Department of the Interior – BSEE
667 feet long
65 feet wide
8 feet deep
2.6 million gallons of water
Tow bridge speeds 6.5 knots max.
Ohmsett
Ohmsett’s mission – Improve oil spill response through
testing, training, research, and development of full scale
oil spill response
OHMSETT
1974 - 1987 Facility Built and Operated by the EPA
1987 - 1989 Mothballed
1989 - Exxon Valdez grounding in the Prince William Sound
1990 - Reopening of Ohmsett mandated by OPA-90
Management of Ohmsett was charged to MMS
Annual O&M Funding through the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund
Testing/Training funded by clients
.
1991
Types of Activities at Ohmsett
•
•
•
•
Testing response equipment and oil spill clean up technology
Training in oil spill response technology
Testing renewable energy wave equipment
Develop testing protocol
Standards and Protocols
ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials)
Vice Chair for Committee F20 on Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Response
F631-99 Standard Guide for Collecting Skimmer Performance Data in Controlled Environments
F716-82(2001) Standard Methods of Testing Sorbent Performance of Absorbents
R726-99 Standard Test Method for Sorbent Performance of Adsorbents
F818-93(2003) Standard Terminology Relating to Spill Response Barriers
F1084-90(2002) Standard Guide for Sampling Oil/Water Mixtures for Oil Spill Recovery Equipment
F1523-94(2001) Standard Guide for Selection of Booms in Accordance with Water Body
F1599-95(2003) Standard Guide for Collecting Performance Data on Temporary Storage Devices
F1607-95(2003) Standard Guide for Reporting of Test Performance for Oil Spill Response Pumps
F1778-97(2002) Standard Guide for Selection of Skimmers for Oil-Spill Response
F1780-97(2002) Standard Guide for Estimating Oil Spill Recovery System Effectiveness
F2008-00 Standard Guide for Qualitative Observations of Skimmer Performance
F2084-01 Standard Guide for Collecting Containment Boom Performance Data in Controlled Environments
F2709 Standard Test Method for Determining Nameplate Recovery Rate of Stationary Oil
Skimmer Systems
MORICE
.
.
ICE Month – March 2013
 Intended to test skimmers currently positioned for use offshore AK
 BSEE provides venue, testers responsible for getting
equipment/personnel to Ohmsett
 May become annual event
.
Questions?
http://www.bsee.gov/