title: Chemical dispersion of oil with mineral fines in a low temperature environment.
abstract: The increasing risks of potential oil spills in the arctic regions, which are characterized by low temperatures, are a big challenge. The traditional dispersant method has shown limited effectiveness in oil cleanup. This work studied the role of mineral fines in the formation of oil-mineral aggregates (OMAs) at low temperature (0-4 °C) environment. The loading amount of minerals and dispersant with different dispersant and oil types were investigated under a full factorial design. The shapes and sizes of OMAs were analyzed. Results showed that the behavior of OMA formation differs when dispersant and mineral fines are used individually or together. Both the experimental and microscopic results also showed the existence of optimal dispersant to oil ratios and mineral to oil ratios. In general, poor oil removal performance was observed for more viscous oil. Corexit 9500 performed better than Corexit 9527 with various oils, in terms of oil dispersion and OMA formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB, Canada E3B 5A3.
authors.forename: Weizhi
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D003080:Cold Temperature; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D008055:Lipids / Q000737:chemistry*; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D059392:Petroleum Pollution; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids; D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; C021984:corexit 9527