Chemical Oil Dispersants Lab

Experiment 15B—Chemical Oil Dispersants

Gusty Pohlman, Kim Hosseinpour

Introduction

        Chemical oil dispersants are solutions used on oil spills to reduce the amount of oil on the surface of the water. Dispersants are made from a mixture of three different types of chemicals: additives, solvents, and surfactants. This mixture works in a way that allows for the dispersal of the oil slick into the water column, reducing the amount of oil washing up onto shorelines. But with this benefit comes a setback. Sparing the coastal habitats puts undersea life at risk, for the chemicals in the dispersant can be toxic, and the decrease of oil on the surface contributes to the increase of oil underwater where there is an abundance of life. The key ingredient in a chemical oil dispersant is the surfactant(s). Surfactants, because they contain both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups, are able to orient themselves along the oil-water interface. Their presence makes the formation of small droplets of oil more likely. These small drops then are dispersed into the water column, increasing the surface area of the oil. In this experiment we used a dispersant modeled on Corexit, a commercial dispersant produced by Nalco Company. We performed the Swirling Flask Test, a government-validated test, in order to simulate oil dispersion. We measured the amount of oil dispersed into the synthetic seawater and compared it to a sample without dispersant.

Materials and Methods

Experimental Procedures

*See Lab Manual for information regarding the experimental procedure.

Results 

        Raw Data for All Groups

        Calculated Areas of All Groups