Abstract
Recovering heavy oil spilled in a harsh environment is challenging especially when dealing with cold marine environments, where sea ice or high sea states are present. The current technology is based on removing oil from the water surface, meanwhile a significant amount of oil particles could remain in the water column due to turbulent ocean conditions and the density of heavy oil. Therefore, in order to enhance the mechanical recovery of heavy oil, capturing oil particles dispersed in the water column is very important. It has been observed that air bubbles can create an upward water flow and thus enhance the flotation of suspended oil particles. The oil floating at surface can then be removed using conventional skimmers. The present paper focuses on developing a lab-scale test program and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation for an enhanced oil spill recovery system and presents the preliminary test results performed at C-CORE. Both stationery and advancing modes of the oil spill recovery system with attached air diffusers were tested. Preliminary test results indicate that the heavy oil recovery ratio can be significantly improved by using air bubbles for oil flotation.
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Acknowledgements
This project was supported by Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) under Oil Spill Response Science (OSRS) program and by Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation (TCII) of the Provincial Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. The project team appreciates the great support from these Federal and Provincial programs for the present work.
All recovery equipment used in the project e.g. skimmers, hydraulic power units (HPU), and hydraulic hoses were provided in-kind by Elastec. The project team thanks Elastec for their generous support.
Eastern Canada Response Corporation (ECRC) provided feedbacks and technical recommendations before and during the course of the project. As the industrial corporation responsible for oil spill cleanup offshore Eastern Canada, it was a privilege having hands-on feedback to ensure applicability of the developed concept. ECRC also provided equipment to be used in the filed demonstrations (HPU, booms, and connectors). The project team would like to thank ECRC for their great support.
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A publisher's error resulted in this article appearing in the wrong issue. The article is reprinted here for the reader's convenience and for the continuity of the special issue. For citation purposes, please use the original publication details; Talimi V, Thodi P, Abedinzadegan Abdi M et al. (2019) Enhancing harsh environment oil spill recovery using air floatation system. Saf Extreme Environ 1:27–37. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42797-019-00005-6.
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Talimi, V., Thodi, P., Abedinzadegan Abdi, M. et al. Enhancing harsh environment oil spill recovery using air floatation system. Saf. Extreme Environ. 2, 57–67 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42797-020-00017-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42797-020-00017-7