International Journal of Research In Science & Engineering Volume: 1 Issue: 1 e-ISSN: 2394-8299 p-ISSN: 2394-8280 OIL SPILL REMEDIATION AND ITS REGULATION Saurabh Tewari1, Abhinav Sirvaiya2 1 Ph.D (scholar), Department of Petroleum Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, saurabhtewari8@gmail.com 2 B.Tech, Department of Petroleum Engineering, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, abhinavsirvaiya@gmail.com ABSTRACT Crude Oil production is the largest and most profitable business in the world. From its development phase to production phase, many disasters have occurred in oil industries. Oil spill is the most important type of environmental disaster which usually occurs. It has impact on humans as wells as on plants and wild life, including birds, fish and mammals. Drilling and production accidents and everyday human activities are the main causes of oil spills. The oil spills are hazardous to environment and also affect human health. The adverse effects have been seen on soil, ground water, plants and animals. Immediate actions are required to eradicate the spill problem. Oil spill at any point may result into explosion and fire hazards. Effective attempts have been made for the remediation of the soil and cleaning the water resources on onshore and offshore. In this paper, some of the known and new methods of remediation have been discussed to solve the oil spill problem economically. Remediation techniques for marine as well as onshore environment are available but still more advance researches are required. New techniques like soil vapor extraction, degradation, bioremediation are major methods of soil remediation. Physical, chemical, thermal methods are used for cleaning oil spills in marine environment. Many government guidelines and policies have also been discussed in this paper which is made for national and international level to control and prevent oil spills problem. Keywords: oil spills, remediation techniques, marine environment, soil, groundwater. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. INTRODUCTION Oil spill is an environmental disaster that occurs due to release of liquid petroleum into the environment. This may happen accidentally, intentionally, or resulted from everyday human activities. The causes and sources of oil spill may also vary. Oil spills are well-known from natural seeps of oil which regularly occur in the Gulf of Mexico. It mainly occurs at production sites (drilling sites and refineries), storage sites due to leakage of container and at transportation sites like pipelines, truck etc. [1]. There have been several oil spills in the last many years in various regions of the world. The largest spill that has taken place resulted into 1, 00,000 tons of oil loss [1]. Oil spills are taken seriously by both up and downstream oil industry. Though land operations do not cause spill accidents. Offshore oil spill is the major cause of concern because of its hazardous impact on marine life. In recent years it has been proven that the physical and chemical properties of spilled oil in addition to the area's environmental and weather conditions are main factors that decide the effects of oil spill [2]. Oil spills are described into mainly four types– minor spills, medium spills, major spills and disaster. These are categorized on the basis of discharge quantity of oil on land, coastal or offshore waters [3]. The damaging impact and distortion of environment due to oil spill is a major concern of discussion. Marine, land, and ground water are being affected by the oil spills and resulted into land and sea water pollution. The marine and onshore lives are in danger because of these oil spills. The difference between oil spill in water and soil is the degree of spread. Small amounts of soluble ingredients in crude oil spills have rare effects on contamination whereas refined HC-products with larger amounts of soluble components like BTX (Benzol, Toluol, Xylol) are the real danger to the environment [4]. Oil spills significantly change the chemical and physical properties of oil [5].Weathering of oil due to action of waves and sunlight which includes spreading, drifting, evaporation, dissolution, photolysis, biodegradation and formation of water oil emulsions has caused significant changes in oil viscosity, density and interfacial tension [6]. Contamination of groundwater by oil and petroleum products has been recognized as a major environmental issue IJRISE| www.ijrise.org|editor@ijrise.org International Journal of Research In Science & Engineering Volume: 1 Issue: 1 e-ISSN: 2394-8299 p-ISSN: 2394-8280 throughout the world [7]. Spillages from tankers have contributed 5% of the total oil pollution in ocean. These spills have pulled the attention of public as well as media due to extent of damages they can cause on marine and terrestrial environment [8]. Several remediation techniques are built up to control and solve the disaster of oil spill. The effectiveness of these techniques depends upon the type and quantity of oil spill, weather conditions and surrounding environment [10]. In this paper, remediation techniques for oil spill cleanup and control has been uttered. A comparative analysis among those techniques and governmental policies has also been discussed. 2. REMEDIATION FOR OIL SPILLS Remediation of oil spills is a serious issue because of its adverse effects on the biosphere. Oil spreads on the top surface of water and form a horizontal smooth and slippery surface known as slick. It forms thin coating on the bird’s feathers which loses its insulating properties and results in freezing death. It will also reduce the amount of oxygen dissolving from air in water which is necessary for marine life. Oil spill has toxic impact on aquatic animals and damages their food resources and habitats. Therefore, proper remediation must be done after oil spillage. 2.1 Marine remediation Effective attempts have been made in remediating the marine environment. Many of these attempts have been made by the major E&P companies [7]. The remediations that are being taken by these companies are as follows as: (a) physical (b) chemical (c) thermal and (d) biological [10]. Physical remediation methods are mostly to control oil spills in a water environment. There are two main steps in controlling the oil spills are containment and recovery. They are mainly used as a barrier to control the spreading oil spill without changing its physical and chemical characteristics. Different equipments are used to control oil spills which are as follows [12; 13; 9]: (a) Boomers – They are used for both containment and recovery. They are floatation device which act like physical barriers which would not allow the oil to spread in water so that oil could be recovered. During recovery period, they are sailed through the heaviest sections of the spill at slow speed and a shipping vessel scoops the oil and traps it between the angle of the boom and the vessel hull. They are also characterized into fence boomer, curtain boomer and fire-resistant boomer [14] on the basis of floating tendency, material with which they are made weight and stopping tendency. (b) Skimmers– They helps in the recovery of spread oil with the help of booms. Oleophilic Skimmers try to trap the oil from the surface with help of belts, disks, continuous chain of oleophilic material and then oil is squeezed out in the recovery tank. Weir skimmers use dam for trapping the oil inside and then it can be pumped out through a pipe or hose to storage tank for recycling purpose. Type and the thickness of oil spill determine the success of skimming. Skimmers are effective and work efficiently in calm water [9]. They are clogged by the debris in floating water. (c) Adsorbent materials - Absorbents which are oleophilic and hydrophobic in nature come out as a good controller of oil spills. After skimming operation, adsorbent are used to clean the remaining oil. These adsorbents can be natural organic, inorganic or synthetic materials. Natural organic sorbents includes peat, hay, feathers, ground corncob etc. They can soak up from 3 to 15 times their weight in oil. Natural inorganic sorbent includes perlite vermiculite, glass, clay, wool, sand and volcanic ash. They can absorb upto 4 to 20 times their weight in oil. Synthetic absorbents include materials similar to plastic like polyethylene, and nylon fibers. They can absorb upto 70 times weight in oil but cannot be cleaned and reused. Chemical remediation methods are among the best remediation techniques available for both on shore and offshore. They not only block the spreading of oil spill but also protect the sensitive marine habitat. They are usually used in addition with physical methods in marine oil spill remediation [9]. In this technique physical and chemical property of oil is being changed. Various chemicals are used to treat the oil spills as they have capabilities to change the physical and chemical properties of oil [13]. The chemicals which control oil spills include dispersants and solidifiers. Dispersants have capabilities to break down the slick of oil into smaller droplets and transfer it into the water column where it undergoes rapid dilution and can be easily degraded (Lessard and Demarco, 2000). Dispersants have surface active agents known as surfactant. They weather the slick of oil into smaller droplets and transfer it into the water column where it undergoes to rapid dilution and can be easily degraded [16]. Dispersants are applied through spraying the water with the chemical and confirming the mixing by wind or propeller of boat whereas solidifiers are those hydrophobic polymers which on reaction with oil convert it into solid rubber state which can be easily removed [9]. IJRISE| www.ijrise.org|editor@ijrise.org International Journal of Research In Science & Engineering Volume: 1 Issue: 1 e-ISSN: 2394-8299 p-ISSN: 2394-8280 Thermal remediation method involves the burning of oil. Though this technical high rates of oil can be easily removed by using minimal specialized equipment, like fire resistant boom or igniters. Thermal technique is more beneficial in calm wind environment and for fresh spills or refined products which can burn quickly without any harm to marine life. Fire resistance booms are used to accumulate oil and concentrate into a slick that is thick enough to burn. The left residue is removed by the mechanical means [17]. The thick oil and high supply oxygen condition are important for its success. Factors affecting the thermal methods are water temperature, speed, wave amplitude, wind direction, slick thickness, oil type and amount of weathering and emulsification that has occurred. Bioremediation method is a very simple and cheap remediation technique. In this method, microorganisms degrade and metabolize any chemical substance and re-establish environmental quality. Microorganisms fasten the natural weakling process by assimilating organic molecules to cell biomass with carbon dioxide, water and heat as by products. Biostimulation and bioaugmentation are the two bioremediation methods. In biostimulation, nutrients are added to stimulate the growth of the microorganism while in case of bioaugmentation microorganisms are added to existing native oil degrading population. For different hydrocarbons there are different microorganisms that have been used. They work with different degradation mechanisms depending on the type of hydrocarbon present in oil. The best degrader in the entire microorganism is bacteria. Good concentration of nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus are growth inhibitor of hydrocarbon-degrader. Because of environment friendly and economic properties, bioremediation has become an advantageous technique for remediation. Year Location Country 1991 1979 1979 1992 1983 1991 1983 1978 1988 1991 Gulf of Kuwait Bay of Campeche Trinidad & Tobago Fergana Valley Nowruz Oil Field ABT Summer Saldanha Bay Off Brittany Coast of Nova Scotia Genoa Kuwait Mexico West Indies Uzbekistan Persian Gulf Angola South Africa France Canada Italy Oil spill (million gallon) approx. 240 – 336 140 88.3 87.7 80 80 78.5 68.7 43.04 42 Table-1: 10 biggest oil spill of world. Year 19 May 2015 13 April 2015 5 March 2015 17 January 2015 6 December 2014 Location California coast English Bay Near Galena Glendive Trans-Israel Pipeline Country U.S.A Canada U.S.A U.S.A Israel Oil spill (Tonnes) 330 2.3 Unknown 41-160 1948 -4300 Table-2: Recent Oil Spills of the world. Fig-1: Oil spill in Gulf of Mexico IJRISE| www.ijrise.org|editor@ijrise.org International Journal of Research In Science & Engineering Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Fig-2: Boomer in use to separate the clean ocean water from the oily water e-ISSN: 2394-8299 p-ISSN: 2394-8280 Fig-3: skimmer is deployed in Western Lake 2.2 Remediation of soil and ground water Remediation technique for soil and water are different. Many factors are responsible which determine the type of remediation technique that should be used. Type of contamination present and where the contamination has taken place are the two main factors that have to be considered in determining the remediation. Cleaning contaminated soil is not an easy process and needs time to get clean. The remediations that can be used as on-site contamination are: soil vapor extraction, Pump and Treat Systems, Degradation, and Bioremediation [12]. Soil vapor extraction is the technique in which contaminates present in the soil are made to vaporize at the soil temperature only by applying vacuum in soil [18]. This creates pore spaces and increases the air flow in soil. That is why this process is also called vacuum extraction, or enhanced in situ volatilization. Contaminates are sucked by the vacuum blower in gaseous form through a vapor extraction well which is further transported for separator. Pump and treat system is a very usual technique which is used for remediation. In this method, the pumping well is drilled which brings out the contaminated water to the surface which is further treated in surface water facilities [18]. The water that is obtained after treatment can be reused or is supplied for use. The further treatment depends on the kind of contaminants present in the groundwater. If non- aqueous phased liquid is resent, then phase separation is done by adding other pumping unit. This technique can also be used with vapor extraction technique. Degradation remediation is of two types: a) chemical degradation and b) biological degradation. In chemical degradation, neutralization of the contaminants is accelerated by using chemicals and transforming them into a state which is less harmful. These chemicals oxidize the metals and reduce the oxidation state of a contaminants [19]. While in biological degradation, the organic reagents work as a chemical entity like in chemical degradation [20]. It is a type of bioremediation technique which converts the hydrocarbon present in soil into carbon dioxide, water and harmless products. As discussed already, in remediation of marine oil spill, bioremediation is healthy environmental technique in which microorganisms are being added with the soil which accelerates the natural remediation process [20]. It is a slow process but is the best fruitful remediation technique that is in use now days. Ground itself remediates of the contaminants slowly. The first step in bioremediation is to determine the type and kind of microorganism that should be added for remediation which depends on the soil type. Second step is to inject the microorganism required to the soil and provide nutrients that are needed for survival [18]. The nutrients that are put into the soil along with the microorganisms help in the reproduction of the microorganisms and permit them to grow vigorously in the environment. This allows microorganism to process the contaminants. After the remediation is done these microorganisms automatically decay into steady initial state. This makes them ecologically friendly. The main factors that determine the growth are temperature, acidity, and oxygen level of soil. If these are not proper, then bioremediation would fail. Leaking is also known as washing. In this method, soil is scrubbed and hydrocarbons are removed, which are treated separately later. Soil flushing is a similar technique like leaking which is done on large scale by flooding a zone of contamination with an appropriate solution to remove the contaminants from soil. They are not still well developed but are promising for some applications [21]. The left contaminations are than mobilized by solubilisation, formation of emulsions, or a chemical reaction to get pure forms. IJRISE| www.ijrise.org|editor@ijrise.org International Journal of Research In Science & Engineering Volume: 1 Issue: 1 e-ISSN: 2394-8299 p-ISSN: 2394-8280 3. GOVERNMENT POILICIES FOR OIL SPILLS Governments of various country have shown interest to solve problems produce by oil spills. For this, governments have firmed many polices which is mandatory for every company to adopt. Developed country like U.S.A has especially setup National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences under the department of Health and Human Services to handle the oil spillage problem. They are running regular educational courses and training programs of oil spill for their workers in coordination with Occupational Safety and Health Administration [23]. They have also developed National Contingency Plan for responding to both hazardous substance and oil spill releases. Areal Contingency plans are developed for smaller area which describes the responsibilities and actions of operators, company and the government agencies for prevention of hazardous discharges [23]. The third level is the Facility Contingency Plans for quick remediation responses for oil facilities likes refineries, petroleum storages etc. Developing country like India has also developed contingency plans like National Oil spill Disaster Contingency Plan under Ministry of Defence in cooperation with Directorate of Fisheries & Environment and Coast Guard. India is a part of United Nation Convection on the Law of the Sea and therefore has obligation to protect marine environment [24]. The Forty-second amendment to the Constitution of India obliges the States for protection of environment [24]. Here States coordinate with coast guards for response actions during oil spillage. Many countries like turkey, France, United Kingdom, Dutch etc. have form a proper contingency plan for handling of oil spillage. Fig-3: Hierarchy of contingency plan There are some common policies which the Governments of various countries have accepted [22]. 1. Pre-plan to act in case of oil spills and releases. 2. To notify the respective departments if there is any kind of spill occurrences. 3. Take respective remediation technique to stop those spills and releases. 4. Cease the spill or release of the pollution substance. 5. Prevent the migration of oil from the site of the spill or release. 6. Prevent the oil from reaching or impacting surface water or groundwater. Acts are also been made regarding remediation process. Every operator has to submit the success report within 15 days only. IJRISE| www.ijrise.org|editor@ijrise.org International Journal of Research In Science & Engineering Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Country India France United Kingdom Netherlands Federal Republic of Germany Sweden Central Government Departments Ministry Defence e-ISSN: 2394-8299 p-ISSN: 2394-8280 Responsibility at sea Responsibility at shore of Coastal Guard Skimmer, Boomer, dispersants Secretary of State for Sea, Ministry of Defences/Interior Department of Transport Maritime Prefect(Navy) Environmental Government Agencies, N.G.Os Coastal Communes Marine Pollution Control Unit of Martine Directorate; coastal Coastal provincial and municipal states. Aerial application of dispersants; containment and recovery where applicable. Containment and recovery. Coastal states Containment and recovery preferred dispersants used in North Sea. Municipal fire brigrades; provincial authorties Containment and recovery preferred dispersants used in certain permissible conditions. Ministry of transport and Public works Ministry of Transport Ministry Defence of Marine Pollution Control Unit of Martine Directorate North Sea Directorate of State waterways Board Federal Board of Waterways and navigation; coastal states Coast Guard services Policy for clean up Containment and recovery preferred but dispersants used in designated areas Table-3: Example of nations oil spill arrangements [25] 4. CONCLUSION There are different remediation techniques for both marine and soil-groundwater based oil spills. The most suitable remediation for spill is being determined by physical and chemical properties of oil. Act quickly and firmness to remove oil from the ground is the basic of minimizing the environmental effects of a sub-surface oil spill or leak. The techniques which are used for marine remediation are physical, chemical, thermal and biological and for soil ground water remediation are soil vapor extraction, Pump and Treat Systems, Degradation, and Bioremediation. The techniques used for remediation depends on factors like oil type, physical, biological and economical characteristics of the spill location, weather and amount of spill. Bio remediation has come out to be the best environment friendly and successful remediation technique. Government policies are also playing a crucial role in the success of remediation techniques and disaster managements. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT We acknowledge Dr. U.D. Dwivedi Department of Petroleum Engineering of RGIPT for his guidance and support during the study. REFERENCES Joye .S.B. ; University of Georgia 2000-2013 -Department of Marine Sciences ;” Oil Spills and Industry History” <http://joyeresearchgroup.uga.edu/public-outreach/marine-oilspills/history> [2] Zekri.A.Y&Chaalal.O. 2000, “Biodegradation of Oil Spills under United Arab Emirates Conditions”, paper presented at SPE , SPE-61475. [3] Nwilo, P.C. &Badejo, O. T., 2001; “Impacts of Oil spills along the Nigerian coast”. 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