Modelling large-scale behaviour of hybrid macro-scale response agents for use in mitigation of marine oil spill impacts

While technologies exist for cleaning up marine oil spills, they become decreasingly effective with increased lag-time between spill and initiation of remediation efforts. Rapid-deploy chemicals could potentially reduce the spreading of marine oil spills, increasing the time available for teams to clean it up. The hybrid spill-treating agents (STAs) under development by BC Research Inc. (BCRI) to herd and gel marine oil spills provide great promise in this area. At the current stage of understanding the large-scale behaviour of STAs is unknown, though bench-scale experiments are promising. This research uses physical testing to determine the spreading characteristics of oil compounds under influence of STAs. This will help BCRI in development and understanding of these chemicals.

Faculty Supervisor:

Gregory Lawrence

Student:

Richard Cunningham

Partner:

BC Research Inc

Discipline:

Engineering - civil

Sector:

Oil and gas

University:

Program: