Effectiveness of non-ionic dispersants on hig...

Effectiveness of non-ionic dispersants on high-density oil in marine water

Author Name : Shrikant J. Zadage, Satish D. Kulkarni

ABSTRACT

When a dispersant is applied to an oil spill in the marine environment, its effectiveness in dispersing the spilled oil depends on various factors such as properties of an oil, wave mixing energy, the temperature of both oil and water, salinity of water, type of surfactant to be used for dispersion, blending of surfactant, and dispersant-to-oil ratio (DOR).The study was conducted to measure the dispersant effectiveness of Tween 85(Polyoxyethylene sorbitan trioleate, non-ionic surfactant), and Tween 80 (Polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate, non-ionic surfactant) on high-density oil. The test used in this study was the Baffled Flask Test (BFT). The tests were carried out in various temperature ranges that were from 15⁰C to 40⁰C. The salinity kept for these tests was 34ppt and 36ppt. Dispersant-to-oil ratios(DOR) for this test was 1:25, which was kept constant for all over study at 200rpm mixing energy. Salinity played a considerable role in concluding the significance of temperature and mixing energy on dispersant effectiveness for almost all the oil-dispersant combinations.At salinity, 36 ppt both dispersants showed better results than 34 ppt with increasing temperatures.In addition, dispersant effectiveness of Tween 85 and Tween 80 varied according to temperature and salinity due to their hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB).

Keywords:Oil spill;Dispersant effectiveness; Tween 85; Tween 80; Baffled Flask Test