The purpose of my experiment is to determine whether human hair or animal hair is better at absorbing oil. In order to find this out, the following questions have been researched, how do you clean an oil spill? Why does hair soak up oil? How is the hair used? Does type/color matter? How effective is it? I will have 10 trails, using the same amount of hair and oil each time, the oil will also be mixed with water to duplicate a more accurate oil spill environment.
How do you clean an oil spill?
There are many different ways to clean an oil spill, because no two oil spills are the same, they vary in location, oil types, and other conditions involved. Depending on the spill, the best method is to leave the oil alone and let it break down by natural means. (University of Delaware, 2004) But, although by far the cheapest method, it cannot be used for large oil spills, such as the one in the Gulf of Mexico. Another way is to use dispersants to break up the oil, this will speed up the oil’s natural biodergration, (University of Delaware, 2004), and dispersants are used by reducing the surface tension to stop oil and water from mixing.
The most expensive way is to introduce a new biological agents to the spill to hasten biodegrading, very similar to dispersants, but they work faster that dispersant, and are more eco-friendly. (NOAA, 2012). Most of the components of the oil will be washed up on shore, but they can easily be broken down by microorganisms and bacteria. But the effectiveness of this technique will always depend on factors like whether the ground has sand or pebbles, because of the difference of organisms. But one of the most effective and cheapest solutions to cleaning up oil spills is using a simple...
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...tems supervisor for Marshall Contractor BAMSI, Inc., filled a 55-gallon oil drum with 40 gallons of water and 15 gallons of oil. "The mixture was filtered through nylon bags filled with hair," said Glover. "When the water was tested after just a single pass through McCrory's innovative filter, only 17 parts of oil per million parts of water remained." McCrory estimates that 25,000 pounds of hair in nylon collection bags may be enough to adsorb 170,000 gallons of spilled oil. Other tests show that a gallon of oil can be adsorbed in less than two minutes with McCrory's method. There is also a potential cost savings in McCrory's method. Oil clean ups now cost approximately $10 to recover a gallon of oil. McCrory's system may cost as little as $2 per gallon and offers the additional benefit of being able to use the recovered oil for fuel. (Marshall Flight Center, 2008)
The British Petroleum (BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was one of the worst ecological catastrophes in human history, causing vast damage to a fragile and beautiful ecosystem while at the same time calling attention to the deficits in current approaches to energy prospecting, risk management, and cleanup. This analysis of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill will devote attention to the following questions: (a) What kind of technology is in use for deep-sea oil extraction, what are the factors that accounted for the BP catastrophe, what were the statistical components of the spill in terms of volume and concentration, and what was the spatio-temporal scale of the oil spill? (b) What were the environmental (physical, biological, hydrological, and atmospheric) impacts of the oil spill, in addition to the economic and social impacts? (c) What were the scientific, technological, and policy solutions implemented by various actors to pursue the cleanup of coastal areas, wildlife, and wetlands damaged by the oil spill? (d) What is the feasibility of long-term biodiversity conservation measures and the limits of such solutions?
Cook, Phil. “Lesson with the BP oil spill: How NOT to respond to a disaster.” PhilCook.com, May 23, 2010. Retrieved May 4, 2011 from: http://philcooke.com/BP_Spill/
The Ocean Ranger The Ocean Ranger was an offshore exploration oil drilling platform that sank in Canadian waters 315 kilometres southeast from St. John's Newfoundland, on the Grand Banks of Newfoundland on February 15, 1982, with 84 crewmembers onboard. The Ocean Ranger was the largest semi-submersible, offshore exploration, oil drilling platform of the day. Built in 1976 by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, it operated off the coasts of Alaska, New Jersey, Ireland, and in November 1980 moved to the Grand Banks. Since it was so big, it was considered to have the ability to drill in areas too dangerous for other rigs.
In 2010, there was a huge oil spill near the Gulf of Mexico that we now know as the BP Oil Spill today. The Spill sent about 170 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill killed 11 men aboard the deep-water Horizon. The BP Oil Spill impacted the environment very negatively. There were different types of environmental impact as a result of the Oil Spill, but the two that grabbed my attention the most are the Polluted Air and the Contaminated Food Chain. The first impact that grabbed my attention was the Polluted Air. Because of the Oil Spill, the air around the surroundings neighborhoods was polluted. All the lightest chemicals in the oil that had spill evaporated within hours of the incidence forming air pollution particles. These particles that are in the air poses significant threats to the human health from being inhaled. The chemical found in the particles that was formed is known as Volatile, which has been known to cause respiratory irritation and central nervous system depression (Solomon & Janssen, 2010). The second impact that grabbed my attention was the contamination of the food chain, specifically the food chain of sea animals that lives near the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists found traces of oil in zooplanktons; this could only mean that the sea creature has had contact with the spilled oil. According to the Staff at Houston Business Journal (2012), “Baby fish and shrimp feed on the tiny, drifting zooplankton, and then introduce contamination and pollution to the larger sea creatures in the food web.” With these findings, it isn’t going to take long before the baby fishes become grown and caught by fishermen and before we know it, it’s on our dinner plate. And here we are eating fishes w...
...gy can successfully replace oil. Just as oil will not run out overnight, its replacement will be equally gradual. The success of this transition is largely contingent on time management. Presently, there is no nation privy to a miracle solution. A bulk of available alternative energy sources are not self sufficient, and require oil to jump start their production. Solar panels, while a step in the right direction, are built in factories, shipped in trucks, flown in planes dependent on oil. Oil needs to be conserved, reserved solely for uses that will benefit future generations, such as creating green energy products. As long as there exists a shadow of a doubt as to the inevitability of peak oil, the existence of debate serves not only as an obstacle, but as a cause for hope. When everyone is forced to acknowledge the peak oil issue, it may very well be too late.
Hurricane Katrina left a devastating scar on the citizens of the southern coast of the U.S., especially New Orleans, Louisiana. The category 5 hurricane was the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the most deadly. Katrina hit New Orleans on August 29th, 2005 and after that day, 66,000 people were displaced from their homes. Of those who decided to ride out the storm with hopes of success and survival as they had experienced with other storms, they were found on their rooftops, in their attics, hoping for boat or helicopter rescue, relying on others for help to survive. The storm had reached 28,000 square feet inward to Louisiana, which was 60 percent of the state. 1,100 Louisianans lost their lives, and 200,000 were displaced and/or lost their homes (Davis 8). It was a devastating time of despair and suffering. People were put through experiences that would scar them for a long time. While preparing for evacuation, people left most of their belongings at home to flee to a safer city or to find shelter in the Superdome and Convention Center. Some even decided to remain in their boarded up homes. After the hurricane had past, a few hours went by and a levee located near the Mississippi River canal broke leaving New Orleans flooded (Delisi). After the disaster, the state and federal governments were pointing fingers at each other as to who was to blame for the poorly planned evacuation and rescue efforts for the victims. The state government promised to help evacuate those who could not transport themselves. Citizens were told to go to the Superdome and convention center for evacuation, but the supplies needed for survi...
Clean water involves seclusion of lakes and hoping the acid rain does not reach these pure water supplies. Another major source of contaminating clean water are oil spills and how destructively they blanket the shoreline they come in contact with. Although offshore drilling expeditions contribute some to the devastating outcome, oil tankers are the superior enemies toward the water. One estimate is that for every one million tons of petroleum shipped one ton is spilled. The largest super tanker spill was in 1979 when 3.3 million barrels was spilled off the coast of France. The largest in the United States was the Exxon Valdez in the gulf of Alaska. On the night of March 24, 1989 the 987 foot Exxon Valdez ran aground in the gulf of Alaska spilling 260,000 barrels of oil. With the help of the forceful winds, the slick soon covered about 1,100 miles of shoreline, including many islands in the sound.
The month of August in 2005 was an extremely shocking and devastating time for the United States more particularly for the people of New Orleans, Louisiana. For a city that was already crumbling for many years something tragic was about to happen. On the 29th of August a rated Category 3 hurricane made landfall. The name of the tragic disastrous storm is Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina, will forever be known as one of the worst storms in United States history. Tearing apart the lives of so many people in just a short period of time(Hurricane Katrina, par. 1).
Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane at its highest, made impact between August 23-30th 2005, and has since gone down as the most devastating and costliest natural disaster in the history of the United States. In preparation for the impact of the storm, on August 27th 2005, two days before the hurricane made landfall, President George W. Bush declared a state of emergency in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Waterford nuclear plant was shut down for precautionary reasons in the wake of the oncoming storm and mandatory evacuations were issued for large parts of the southeast. Mayor Ray Nagin of New Orleans stated that about 80% of the 480,000 people asked to evacuate heeded warnings. Evacuation orders were also made for areas along the Mississippi coast, low-lying coastal areas in Alabama, as well as the barrier islands in western Florida Panhandle.
Because it is the most highly publicized of the different forms of ocean pollution, oil spills, oil leakages, and general oil contamination are something that we all seem to be aware of. Since the Exxon Valdez incident, the American public in particular has been more and more critical of oil companies.Each year, over 700 million gallons of oil end up in the ocean. Contrary to what you may have thought, most oil pollution doesn't come from tanker accidents. In fact, tanker accidents account for less than 90 million of the g...
There are many causes to petroleum in b the oceanic environment. Oil naturally seeps into the ocean but the natural concentrations have been greatly exceeded. Shipping oil from one place to another contributes the most to oil in the ocean. The crude oil from transportation b is discarded into the ocean while cleaning bilges, which are the lowest compartment in ships, and transferring oil from tank to tank at sea. “Disasters like shipwrecks, oil tanker accidents, and offshore oil rigs fires continue to this problem, as does the disposal of urban garbage into oceans, dumping of waste oil by passing ships, commercial coastal and off-shore entertainment, and deep-sea industrial and nuclear waste dumps”(“Marine Water Quality”). Another large polluter is the oil industry. Tanker ports and refineries are located by the coast for shipping purposes. The coastal areas receive considerable damage from the spills. “Large numbers of seabirds are killed annually, their oil-matted plumage making flight impossible and exposing them to hypothermia. Oil-soaked fur of marine mammals loses its water repellency, also leading to death by hypothermia. Ingestion of oil by fishes, birds, and mammals may also result in death”(“Marine Pollution”). Another source of petroleum pollution is from the city streets. Oil runoff from urban streets and sewers enter waterways and the ocean. Oil has a very long term ecological impact on the ocean and the marine ecosystems. “The presence of oil in marine waters severely degrades water quality by clogging an animal’s feeding - structure, killing larvae, and blocking available sunlight for photosynthesis”(“Marine Water Quality”). Petroleum pollution has been a large problem for a very long period of time. “As early as 197p, oceanographic ecologists noted that they could rarely pull a net through the surface of the ocean without collecting some form of tar or
Swift, W.H, . C.J. Touhill, W.L. Templeton, and D.P. Roseman. 1969. Oil spillage prevention, control, and restoration—state of the art and research needs. Washington, D.C.: The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has had an extremely negative effect on the surrounding wildlife and ecosystem. The oil spread across the gulf contaminating any living organism that came into direct or indirect contact with it. The oil cuts off the ability of oxygen from the air to move into the water which directly harms fish and other marine wildlife that require that oxygen. The dispersant that the BP is using to try and break up the oil moves the slick into the entire water column which contaminates the ocean floor which would most likely not have seen any damage if it wasn’t for the use of these dispersants. More than 400 species that live in the Gulf Islands and marshlands are at risk and as of November 2 s...
“ Effects of Oil Spills on Marine and Coastal Wildlife” Holly K. Ober. WEB. 19 May 2014
The oil refinery converts crude oil into valuable products and supplies. These products are made and sent to many countries abroad, in which are transported on land or along rivers and canals. Crude oil is then arranged and categorized into segments by fractional distillation. Raw crude oil, or unprocessed crude oil, is not normally beneficial in most industrial applications. Low sulfur crude oil has been valuable as a burner fuel to construct steam for the force of seagoing vessels. The lighter elements have the ability to construct explosive and dangerous vapors in the gas tanks. There are extremely hazardous, and are often used in war ships. The remaining hydrocarbon molecules are filtered from crude oil and used towards lubricants, feedstock, plastics, and fuels.