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Spill containment is where spills of chemicals, oils, sewage etc. are contained within a barrier or drainage system rather than being absorbed at the surface. One method is to use an inflatable stopper or pneumatic bladder which is inserted into the outflow of a drainage system to create a containment vessel. In the event of a spill the stopper bladder is inflated to block the drain/s and to prevent the spilled agent from entering the ground water, stream or river.
The National Response Center (NRC) [1] reports over 10,000 annual spills in the US from facilities. All of these can employ the spill containment measures mentioned above.
Oil spills, when they occur, are detrimental to the surrounding environment, humans, and native wildlife. This type of spill is statistically rare, given how much oil is pumped, refined, transported, and stored each day. In 1999, according to US Coast Guard data, of over 3.2 billion barrels of oil transported by oil tanker in the US, fewer than 200 barrels were spilled. [2] The occurrence of oil spills has decreased in the current decades, with approximately 77% less oil spilled since the 1970s. [2] This is due to increased awareness and improved technology, there are a multitude of companies that offer state of the art spill containment solutions to minimize environmental damage.Spill Containment.UK,Yellow Shield among others are companies offering specialist solutions with the aim of preserving the environment and its ecosystems.
In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates the preparations and response to oil spills in inland waters, with the United States Coast Guard responding to spills in coastal waters. [3] The EPA oil spill program is further broken down into two segments with different responsibilities. The Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure works with facilities that may leak oil into local rivers, streams, or other bodies of water to prevent said leakage. The Facility Response Plan requires at-risk facilities to have a plan to follow in the event of an oil spill. Both were created to plug holes left in the Clean Water Act, in an amendment called the Oil Pollution Act of 1990.
Spill containment is considered by some to be a more eco-friendly solution than using absorbent spill kits that have very small capacity, require disposal after use and do not permit re-cycling of the spilled agent. Chemical handling and oil transfer companies in the UK are now deploying spill containment bladders and valves that can be retro-fitted to existing drainage systems in just a few hours. Installing spill containment measures prior to a spill can result in significant savings in the event of a spill. Cleanup costs are impacted by numerous factors such as location of the spill, type of oil spilled, surrounding sensitive areas, and local regulations. [4] For example, the average cost of cleanup (per ton) after an oil spill is drastically different for a spill in the Gulf of Mexico than it would be in South American waters, where there is a difference of almost $70,000. [4] Instead of paying for a costly cleanup, containment measures reduce the impact on the environment and the surrounding area, and may save some of the resource.
Before and after an oil spill, technology is used for many purposes.
Remote control of the inflation process is also available eliminating risk to operatives in the event of hazardous chemical spills. Normally controls are pneumatic eliminating the need to run electrical cables down into the drainage system.
The latest technology in wireless spill containment eliminates any infrastructure changes using a wireless network (Zigbee) which inflates bladders that employ disposable gas cylinders. The wireless plugs [6] enable spill containment in virtually any location. Using the Zigbee network enables the user to connect any type of component to the wireless system such as sensors, fire alarms, panic buttons, remote controls etc.
Drains of all sizes can be fitted with systems available with extension brackets that cater for drain depths from 500 mm to over 2.5m deep. There are also pneumatically controllable flap valves or pneumatically controlled non-return valves which can be fitted to existing soil waste systems. Again containment is controlled by application of pneumatic pressure in the event of a spill.
While many technologies are aimed towards preventing oil spills or towards preparation for the spills, there is also technology available that can be quickly implemented in the event of a spill. As was the case with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, it may take a very long time for spills to be contained.
Containment booms are a commonly used containment method. The barriers float on the water, with material that hangs below, to catch contaminants. These are simply to deploy, and help in recovery efforts while protecting surrounding resources. These barriers are effective in relatively level water, however; any significant waves allow contaminants to escape the boom and impact the surrounding environment.
After using containment booms, skimmers are used to recover the contaminants.
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products and their by-products, heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil.
Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water pollution results when contaminants mix with these water bodies. Contaminants can come from one of four main sources: sewage discharges, industrial activities, agricultural activities, and urban runoff including stormwater. Water pollution is either surface water pollution or groundwater pollution. This form of pollution can lead to many problems, such as the degradation of aquatic ecosystems or spreading water-borne diseases when people use polluted water for drinking or irrigation. Another problem is that water pollution reduces the ecosystem services that the water resource would otherwise provide.
Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The program is designed to investigate and clean up sites contaminated with hazardous substances. Sites managed under this program are referred to as "Superfund" sites. There are 40,000 federal Superfund sites across the country, and approximately 1,300 of those sites have been listed on the National Priorities List (NPL). Sites on the NPL are considered the most highly contaminated and undergo longer-term remedial investigation and remedial action (cleanups).
Bleed air is compressed air taken from the compressor stage of a gas turbine upstream of its fuel-burning sections. Automatic air supply and cabin pressure controller (ASCPCs) valves bleed air from high or low stage engine compressor sections. Low stage air is used during high power setting operation, and high during descent and other low power setting operations. Bleed air from that system can be utilized for internal cooling of the engine, cross-starting another engine, engine and airframe anti-icing, cabin pressurization, pneumatic actuators, air-driven motors, pressurizing the hydraulic reservoir, and waste and water storage tanks. Some engine maintenance manuals refer to such systems as "customer bleed air". Bleed air is valuable in an aircraft for two properties: high temperature and high pressure.
Building automation(BAS), also known as building management system (BMS) or building energy management system (BEMS), is the automatic centralized control of a building's HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), electrical, lighting, shading, access control, security systems, and other interrelated systems. Some objectives of building automation are improved occupant comfort, efficient operation of building systems, reduction in energy consumption, reduced operating and maintaining costs and increased security.
Bunding, also called a bund wall, is a constructed retaining wall around storage "where potentially polluting substances are handled, processed or stored, for the purposes of containing any unintended escape of material from that area until such time as a remedial action can be taken."
An oily water separator (OWS) (marine) is a piece of equipment specific to the shipping or marine industry. It is used to separate oil and water mixtures into their separate components. This page refers exclusively to oily water separators aboard marine vessels. They are found on board ships where they are used to separate oil from oily waste water such as bilge water before the waste water is discharged into the environment. These discharges of waste water must comply with the requirements laid out in Marpol 73/78.
A pneumatic barrier is a method to contain oil spills. It is also called a bubble curtain. Air bubbling through a perforated pipe causes an upward water flow that slows the spread of oil. It can also be used to stop fish from entering polluted water. A further application of the pneumatic barrier is to decrease the salt-water exchange in navigation locks and prevent salt intrusion in rivers. . Pneumatic barriers are also known as air curtains. The pneumatic barrier is a (non-patented) invention of the Dutch engineer Johan van Veen from around 1940 .
Compressed air filters, often referred to as line filters, are used to remove contaminants from compressed air after compression has taken place.
Groundwater remediation is the process that is used to treat polluted groundwater by removing the pollutants or converting them into harmless products. Groundwater is water present below the ground surface that saturates the pore space in the subsurface. Globally, between 25 per cent and 40 per cent of the world's drinking water is drawn from boreholes and dug wells. Groundwater is also used by farmers to irrigate crops and by industries to produce everyday goods. Most groundwater is clean, but groundwater can become polluted, or contaminated as a result of human activities or as a result of natural conditions.
Firewater refers to water that has been used in firefighting and requires disposal. In many cases, it is a highly polluting material and requires special care in its disposal.
A pneumatic bladder is an inflatable (pneumatic) bag technology with many applications.
Pneumatic non-return valves are used where a normal non-return valve would be ineffective. This is for example where there is a risk of flood water entering a site but an equal risk of pollution or a chemical spills leaving a site and polluting the environment.
Secondary spill containment is the containment of hazardous liquids in order to prevent pollution of soil and water. Common techniques include the use of spill berms to contain oil-filled equipment, fuel tanks, truck washing decks, or any other places or items that may leak hazardous liquids.
A containment boom is a temporary floating barrier used to contain an oil spill. Booms are used to reduce the possibility of polluting shorelines and other resources, and to help make recovery easier. Booms help to concentrate oil in thicker surface layers so that skimmers, vacuums, or other collection methods can be used more effectively. They come in many shapes and sizes, with various levels of effectiveness in different types of water conditions.
Offshore oil spill prevention and response is the study and practice of reducing the number of offshore incidents that release oil or hazardous substances into the environment and limiting the amount released during those incidents.
Fuel bladders, fuel storage bladders are a type of Flexi-bag used as a fuel container. They are collapsible, flexible storage bladders that provide transport and storage for bulk industrial liquids such as fuels.
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred between 10 April and 19 September 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. A variety of techniques were used to address fundamental strategies for addressing the spilled oil, which were: to contain oil on the surface, dispersal, and removal. While most of the oil drilled off Louisiana is a lighter crude, the leaking oil was of a heavier blend which contained asphalt-like substances. According to Ed Overton, who heads a federal chemical hazard assessment team for oil spills, this type of oil emulsifies well. Once it becomes emulsified, it no longer evaporates as quickly as regular oil, does not rinse off as easily, cannot be broken down by microbes as easily, and does not burn as well. "That type of mixture essentially removes all the best oil clean-up weapons", Overton said.
Environmental cleanup laws govern the removal of pollution or contaminants from environmental media such as soil, sediment, surface water, or ground water. Unlike pollution control laws, cleanup laws are designed to respond after-the-fact to environmental contamination, and consequently must often define not only the necessary response actions, but also the parties who may be responsible for undertaking such actions. Regulatory requirements may include rules for emergency response, liability allocation, site assessment, remedial investigation, feasibility studies, remedial action, post-remedial monitoring, and site reuse.
Bioremediation of petroleum contaminated environments is a process in which the biological pathways within microorganisms or plants are used to degrade or sequester toxic hydrocarbons, heavy metals, and other volatile organic compounds found within fossil fuels. Oil spills happen frequently at varying degrees along with all aspects of the petroleum supply chain, presenting a complex array of issues for both environmental and public health. While traditional cleanup methods such as chemical or manual containment and removal often result in rapid results, bioremediation is less labor-intensive, expensive, and averts chemical or mechanical damage. The efficiency and effectiveness of bioremediation efforts are based on maintaining ideal conditions, such as pH, RED-OX potential, temperature, moisture, oxygen abundance, nutrient availability, soil composition, and pollutant structure, for the desired organism or biological pathway to facilitate reactions. Three main types of bioremediation used for petroleum spills include microbial remediation, phytoremediation, and mycoremediation. Bioremediation has been implemented in various notable oil spills including the 1989 Exxon Valdez incident where the application of fertilizer on affected shoreline increased rates of biodegradation.