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What is the Use of Dispersant in Oil Spill?

Published in Oil Spill Response 2 mins read

Dispersants are a vital tool in oil spill response, primarily used to accelerate the removal of oil from the surface of the sea and mitigate its environmental impact. By enhancing the natural dispersion of oil, they play a crucial role in protecting coastlines and promoting the breakdown of oil.

How Dispersants Work to Combat Oil Spills

When oil spills occur, they often form large slicks on the water's surface, posing a significant threat to marine life, coastal areas, and human activities. Dispersants are chemical agents that address this challenge by altering the physical properties of the oil.

Their primary mechanism involves:

  1. Breaking Down Oil: Dispersants contain surfactants that reduce the interfacial tension between oil and water. This allows the oil slick to break down into numerous tiny droplets.
  2. Enhancing Natural Dispersion: These small oil droplets mix more readily with the water column, becoming diluted and less concentrated than a surface slick. This process greatly enhances the rate of natural dispersion, moving the oil away from the immediate surface.
  3. Preventing Shoreline Impact: By dispersing the oil into the water column, dispersants help prevent it from coming ashore, protecting sensitive coastal habitats like mangroves, salt marshes, and beaches from heavy contamination.
  4. Accelerating Biodegradation: The increased surface area of the smaller oil droplets makes them more accessible to naturally occurring microorganisms. As a result, the dispersed oil will be more rapidly biodegraded, aiding in the biological cleanup of the marine environment.

Key Actions and Benefits of Dispersants

The application of dispersants offers several critical advantages in managing oil spills:

Key Action of Dispersants Environmental Benefit
Accelerate oil removal from sea surface Reduces immediate visual impact and physical smothering.
Enhance natural dispersion of oil Prevents large, concentrated slicks from forming.
Break oil into smaller droplets Increases surface area for natural biological processes.
Prevent oil from coming ashore Protects sensitive coastal ecosystems and human infrastructure.
Promote rapid biodegradation by microbes Speeds up the natural recovery and detoxification of the marine environment.

Practical Insights

While effective, the decision to use dispersants is complex and depends on various factors such as oil type, water depth, sea conditions, and potential environmental impacts. They are typically applied by specialized aircraft or vessels directly onto the oil slick. The goal is always to minimize overall environmental harm, weighing the benefits of preventing shoreline oiling against the potential impacts of dispersed oil in the water column.