GULF OIL SPILL An Engineering Challenge For Future Generations

….and that means YOU!

PLEASE..help me fly again!

150 mi

150 mi

Deepwater Horizon Blowout

• A lot of oil!• 210,000 gallons per day at maximum• Estimated 175 million gallons total• Volume of 1 class room is about: 150,000

gal• Over 1,000 classrooms of oil!

• About 75% still in the ocean

Deepwater Horizon Blowout

• Blowout was 5,000 ft (1 mi) underwater

• Most of the oil rises to the surface because oil is less dense than water.

• Some of the oil gets trapped in underwater currents and can travel throughout the ocean

Waves of Oil

Clean-up Methods1. Dispersants: break up large oil slicks

into small particles2. Booms: long floating tubes that are

put on the water surface to contain an oil spill

3. Skimming: specially designed boats “scrape” the oil off of the surface

4. Absorbents: materials that can help “suck-up” the oil

Dispersants• Dispersants are chemical solvents or

surfactants.

• They don't eliminate oil, they make it less obvious by breaking it into small pieces which spread throughout the ocean.

• The dispersant used by BP is toxic to microorganisms and fish eggs.

Booms

• Help contain the oil slicks on the ocean surface• Used to protect shore line

Human Hair & Sheep’s Wool

• Wool adsorbs oil• oil sticks to the hair • does not soak into it

• Why?• Oleo-philic surface• Oleo = OIL• Philic = LOVING

↘“Oil-loving”• Attractive to oil!

Recycled Cellulose Material

• Made of recycled natural plant material

• Absorbs the moment it touches oil

• This material is hydrophobic so it repels water while absorbing only oil

Oil Absorbing Polymer

• Envirobond 403 is a polymer specifically formulated to bond to crude oil

• Bonds to hydrocarbons (oil) to form gel

• Hydrophobic – doesn’t absorb water

Oil Clean-up Experiment

• Follow the instructions on the handout• Record your results• Ask if you have any questions!

Credits and Appreciation

Funding for this project was generously provided by a grant from the Oregon Engineering Technology Industry Council (ETIC) through the Oregon Pre-Engineering & Applied Sciences (OPAS) initiative.

Center for Outreach in Science and Engineering for Youth (COSEY) is a collaboration between the colleges of Science and Engineering and Precollege Programs at Oregon State University.

Photo Credits• “An oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico from the deepwater horizon accident in

2010.” Retrieved from http://www.chem.ucla.edu/harding/IGOC/O/ oil.html• Pickens, B. (2010) “Oil covered seagull.” The top 10 benefits of the BP oil spill.

Retrieved from http://nationallampoon.com/articles/the-top-10-benefits-of-the-bp-oil-spill

• Warren, J. (2010) “Oil on the Chandeleur islands from a plane.” Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffreywarren/4590976462 / in/photostream/

• [Photograph of waves of oil] Retrieved from http://galerie.money.pl/ zanieczyszczone;ropa;plaze;australii, galeria,2164,2.html

• BP P.L.C. (2010) [Photograph of booms surrounding the Chandeleur islands]. Retrieved at http://news.discovery.com/earth/bp-oil-spill-photos.html

• Matter of Trust. “Miles of boom made at Felix’ Camp.” Retrieved at http://www.matteroftrust.org/programs/hairmatsPhotos.html

• [Diagram of hair adsorbing oil]. Retrieved from http://wagn4u.blogspot.com/ 2010/ 06/how-you-can-help-gulf-region-following.html