If there was one thing about environmental engineering that interested me the most it would be cleaning up oil spills. This is a fascinating process because it is a serious problem that contaminates our oceans, and most people have no idea how a team would go about cleaning up an oil spill.
University of Delaware says there are 4 possible ways to clean up an oil spill:
The first is to leave the oil alone and wait for it to break down by natural means. This method can only be used on small spills that are not near coastal regions or marine industries.
The second option is to contain the spill with booms and collect it from the surface of the water using a skimmer. There are several different types of booms that can be used, but the most common are made of solid buoyant material that rise a meter above the water line. Because spilt oil creates a layer that is only a few millimeters thick, it stays on the top of the water so when a skimming device coasts across the top of the water, it can be sucked up. This method does not work in high winds or high seas.
The third option is to use dispersants to break up the oil, which speeds up the natural break down. Dispersants work by reducing the surface tension to stop the oil from mixing into the water. Dispersants can only be used in specific environments; ocean-life would be negatively affected and the spill must be young (1-2 hours).
The final process is to introduce biological agents that will speed up biodegradation. By introducing certain nutrients (usually nitrogen and phosphorus), the components of the oil can be broken down into fatty acids and carbon dioxide. This method can only be used in certain weather conditions.
Source: https://www.ceoe.udel.edu/oilspill/cleanup.html
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I never knew an oil spill could be fixed, I just assumed the ocean would always be contaminated. Great article I enjoyed reading this!
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