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6 Research Priorities to Support Dispersant Use Decision-Making
Pages 277-288

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From page 277...
... passed rules for vessel and facility response plans that specified the minimum equipment capabilities for oil containment and recovery for likely and maximum spill volumes. Mechanical recovery is not always effective, thus OPA 90 also called for national and regional response teams to develop guidelines for other on-water response strategies, specifically the use of chemical dispersants and in-situ burning.
From page 278...
... In response to the statement of task, the committee reviewed and evaluated existing information and ongoing research regarding the efficacy and effects of dispersants as an oil spill response technique. The statement of task specifically directed the committee to address "how laboratory and mesoscale experiments could inform potential controlled field trials and what experimental methods are most appropriate for such tests." All experiments, whether conducted at the bench-top or field scale, represent an attempt to measure or otherwise quantify the contribution of one variable among many that interact to dictate a specific outcome.
From page 279...
... Developing a robust understanding of these key processes and mechanisms to support decisionmaking in nearshore environments will require taking dispersant research to the next level. Many factors will need to be systematically varied in settings where accurate measurements can be taken.
From page 280...
... Although a subset of factors that may limit the effectiveness of mechanical response are readily evaluated (e.g., spill occurs too far from shore to allow safe and effective mechanical spill response) , other factors require an ability to forecast environmental conditions at the spill site or along the projected path of the surface slick.
From page 281...
... · Experimental bench-scale tests should be used to characterize the energy dissipation rates that prevail over a range of operating conditions to determine the functional relationship between variables for a range of oil viscosities and weathering states. Furthermore, evaluation of chemical effectiveness should always include measurement of the droplet-size distribution of the dispersed oil.
From page 282...
... Relevant state and federal agencies, industry, and appropriate international partners should develop and fund a research program that provides the data necessary to predict, through modeling of the chemical, environmental, and operational conditions, the overall effectiveness of a dispersant application, specifically including conditions representative of nearshore physical settings. Two general types of modeling efforts and products should be recognized: (1)
From page 283...
... A more complete understanding of how dispersant use may subsequently limit mechanical recovery, if the dispersant is ineffective, could greatly reduce concern about the reliance on operational testing of dispersant effectiveness during early phases of spill response. · Experiments should be designed to provide data on the rate and consequences of surfactant wash-out for both dispersed oil droplets that re-coalesce and surface slicks that were treated under calm conditions.
From page 284...
... Oil trajectory models for dispersed oil plumes could be valuable tools to predict exposure, but they are incomplete in terms of their representation of the natural physical process involved, verification of the codes, and validation of the output from these models in an experimental setting or during an actual spill. As discussed in Chapter 4, the ability of models to predict the concentrations of dispersed oil and dissolved aromatic hydrocarbons in the water column with sufficient accuracy to aid in spill decisionmaking has yet to be fully determined.
From page 285...
... One of the major concerns with use of dispersants in nearshore settings is the dispersed oil interaction with suspended particulate matter and the ultimate fate of the droplets. Relevant state and federal agencies, industry, and appropriate international partners should develop and fund a focused series of experiments to quantify the weathering rates and final fate of chemically dispersed oil droplets compared to undispersed oil.
From page 286...
... Relevant state and federal agencies and industry should develop and implement detailed plans (including preposition of sufficient equipment and human resources) for rapid deployment of a well-designed monitoring effort for actual dispersant applications in the United States.
From page 287...
... after dispersant application to assess chronic effects and long-term recovery. These data will be valuable in validating the assumptions associated with environmental trade-offs of using dispersants.


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