Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Project

Oil and Water Properties

Oil vs Water

Water is a polar molecule, which means that it's structure is made up of one positive charge and one negative charge. Opposites attract so a water molecule attaches to other water molecules. On the other hand oil is a non polar molecule. It's charge is balanced. This means that oil molecules attract with other oil molecules and water molecules attract with other water molecules. This causes oil and water not to mix together.

What Caused the Accident?

The accident was caused after an explosion that was caused by a failure that occurred at the base of a cement well that contained oil and gas. This explosion ended up capsizing the oil rig and pouring 134 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a time span of three months.

Clean Up Tactic #1

To clean oil from the Gulf 1.8 Million gallons of dispersant were used. Corexit is one of the dispersant used to limit the oil from reaching the shoreline or potentially reach animals at the surface. The Dispersant contains surfactants which break up the oil molecules and allows the oil molecules to mix into the water columns.

Clean Up Tactics #2

Clean Up Tactic #2

Booms (barriers usually made up of metal or plastic) were deployed. The contained oil was siphoned or burned. After 3 months of oil leaking into the gulf a cap was manufactured and the oil was capped off.

Were the Clean Up Tactics Effective?

Were the Clean Up Tactics Effective?

The Booms that were deployed were very effective at keeping the oil away from the shores, and the cap put on the well was very effective as well, the only clean up tactic that did not work was the use of the chemical dispersant.

Were the Clean Up Tactics Effective?

The Chemical Dispersant had unforeseen consequences. The use of chemical dispersants increased the area that the oil traveled by 49 percent. This increased the area affected by the spill. Also the oil sunk to the sea floor because the oil molecules glued itself to falling particles such as bacteria and phytoplankton. The coral was damaged and many habitats were damaged because of this. So all in all the dispersants were effective but they had consequences.

Improvements

Improvements

What if we has used a giant clay sponge. Researchers and engineers have made a clay sponge, just like the one in your kitchen. The substance that the sponge consists of is a freeze dried mixture of clay with a polymer and air. The sponge is non polar so the oil is attracted to it rather than the water. The sponge also works in all types of water.

Improvements

Improvements

The main cleaner in the Deep Water Horizon oil spill was dispersants. Dispersants are very bad because they take a long time to break down in the environment. So Scientists have created a magnetic soap that consists of mainly Iron and salt. When the soap hits the water the salt reacts and creates a magnetic core in the water. When a magnet is applied the magnetic core and the oil rises to the surface of the water. This would make cleanup so much easier since all the oil is now on the surface instead of the sea floor.

Improvements

Improvements

Skimming is a popular clean up tactic already. However engineers at Extreme Spill Technology have created a skimming boat that can operate in more situations than regular skimming boats. The boat is faster and more efficient than other boats and the machines do not clog as easily. If we had this type of technology during the deep water horizon spill we could of removed more oil from the ocean in a faster amount of time. Which would result in less damage to the ecosystem.

How was Marine Life Effected?

The obvious answer to this question is that the marine life were affected negatively, but how bad? was the real question. The oil drifted and contaminated turtle habitat. An estimated 4,900 to 7,600 juvenile sea turtles were killed and 56,000 to 166,000 adult sea turtles were killed. This was just one out of many animals that were affected negatively by this oil spill. Some more animals that were effected were birds, fish, seahorses, coral, and about 25,900 marine mammals were killed.