Icebreaker-enhanced Dispersion for Oil Spilled in Ice

As oil exploration moves into the Arctic, attention has focused on industrys ability to respond to potential spills in this
region. A significant amount of work has been completed showing that dispersants can work in ice.5,6,7,8 For
dispersants to work, however, mixing energy usually in the form of waves is necessary. Concentrated ice cover tends
to limit the propagation of waves and thereby reduce the mixing energy needed for dispersion. For this situation,
ExxonMobil has developed a method of supplying the necessary mixing energy using the propeller wash from ice
breakers.

The feasibility of this concept was evaluated in scaled testing performed in an ice basin. A detailed discussion of this
work is reported elsewhere.9,10 Here we will highlight some of the important results.

The ice basin tests utilized a 1:21 scale model of an icebreaker. Figure 2 shows a picture of the scale model taken
during the ice basin tests. In total sixteen different tests were completed to study some of the major spill scenarios
that might occur in an ice environment. Table 2 shows the test results. The data shows that the scale model icebreaker
was able to disperse oil spilled in ice leads, on top of ice, in ice rubble, and underneath ice.

These results demonstrate that icebreakers can be an important tool to enhance chemical dispersion and should be
considered for spills in ice where dispersants are an accepted response option.

IN SITU BURNING
One-step Process to Collect and Burn Oil Slicks
Vessels of opportunity are often utilized during offshore oil spill response operations for various purposes. Because these vessels
are very numerous in many locations at risk of oil spills they could by shear numbers be an effective platform for treating oil
slicks. They have limited capability, however, because they arent equipped to handle oil recovered during skimming operations.
During the 2010 Macondo incident in the Gulf of Mexico, vessels of opportunity were used in a very limited way for

skimming operations. They were deployed with short sections of boom on outriggers to collect oil for recovery. Once the oil
booms were full of oil, the vessels of opportunity had to wait for a skimmer vessel to come and recover the oil. The wait time led
to inefficient use of these vessels.
ExxonMobil developed a concept that potentially significantly enhances the capability of vessels of opportunity for skimming
operations. The concept is a one-step skim and burn system. This eliminates the need to collect and dispose of skimmed oil. The
concept relies on the fact that properly operated oleophilic skimmers do not entrain much water when skimming oil slicks
allowing the recovered oil to be immediately burned. If our research is successful, the technique could be extended to not only
vessels of opportunity but also to dedicated oil spill skimming vessels.
We completed bench and meso-scale feasibility testing of this concept in 2012. These studies demonstrated the ability to burn oil
from water surfaces without generating significant smoke plumes or residual oil. This was possible because the setup allowed us
to control the air-oil ratio limiting smoke generation. The heat of the incinerator allowed us to minimize the residual oil left after a
burn.
Remote Oil Detection
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

Currently, the remote detection of oil spilled under ice requires placing personnel on the ice to make measurements. To
enhance our ability, ExxonMobil is developing a technique that uses nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) in the Earths field.
A conceptual drawing of the technique is shown in. This is a technique adapted from a ground-water prospecting method that
is commercially available. The process also operates with physics similar to that used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
an often used medical analytical procedure. The Earths field NMR, however, is much less complex because it doesnt require
an applied, high-strength magnetic field but uses the Earths magnetic field. Most of the equipment and complexity of an
MRI instrument are the components required to generate a very uniform, high-strength magnetic field.
The method requires an antenna that produces a radio-frequency electromagnetic pulse at the appropriate frequency to
excite the magnetic dipoles of hydrogen nuclei. Immediately after the pulse, the same antenna receives characteristic
electromagnetic energy released as the hydrogen nuclei fall back to an equilibrium energy state. The measurement we intend to
use is the amount of time required for the nuclei to return to equilibrium. This time is characteristic of the chemical
environment of the nuclei allowing a differentiation of the signal produced by the water, ice, and oil.
We have developed a novel antenna system appropriate for the geometry of a flat oil layer located either under or within
an ice sheet. The antenna system and associated electronics have allowed us to continue to increase the signal-to-noise ratio
of our preliminary prototype system. We can now detect both oil and water in the Earths field.

Remotely Controlled Helicopters for Detecting Oil in Open Water

One challenge of offshore spill response is visual detection of oil slicks from the deck or bridge of a response vessel. It is very
difficult to see oil located even a few tens of meters away from the vessel. One option to increase the radius of detection is to
put personnel in helicopters or airplanes that make direct observation of slick locations and guide response vessels to the
appropriate location. This becomes challenging for a large spill because there are usually far more response vessels than
airplanes or helicopters. Therefore a single aerial observer can be directing multiple response vessels. This can lead to
significant inefficiency and delay.
ExxonMobil is in the beginning phases of evaluating a concept to place a remote controlled helicopter outfitted with
cameras to act as aerial observation for each response vessel. This helicopter can transmit video images from locations
several tens to several hundreds of feet above the ship. This will significantly increase the radius of observation for these
vessels allowing them to direct themselves onto oil slicks.
A challenge with aerial observation is differentiating thick and thin oil slicks. Remote detection techniques are not very
effective at this. Visual observations are not very effective either. Oil slicks of <0.1 mm thickness are often indistinguishable
from from oil slicks >0.1 mm. There is a well-known rule-of-thumb for offshore oil spill response that says 90% of the oil is
in 10% of the area. Ideally, response systems would initially focus on the 10% of the area where 90% of the oil is located to
maximize efficiency.
The remote-controlled helicopters may have a relatively simple method of detecting thick from thin oil using the rotor
downwash. The concept is to first identify a location where an oil slick is located. Then fly the helicopter immediately over
this slick. In a systematic way, lower the helicopter to a very low altitude over the slick until the downwash causes a
disturbance of the slick. Our expectation is that the time required for the downwash to move the oil away from the area
immediately under the helicopter will be characteristic of the oil thickness. Thin slicks will move fast and thick slicks will
move more slowly. A survey of the slick in this way should allow mapping of thick versus thin areas that so the vessel can
target the thick oil first.