Behavior of chemically dispersed oil in marine sediment

Abstract

This laboratory study was to describe properties of four chemically dispersed oils within natural beach sands. The influence of temperature on the adsorption characteristics of dispersed oil to marine sediment was almost negligible, within 10 to 30°C. With certain amount of oil and varied dispersant/oil ratio, oil in top sediments following flushing was not affected by the increase in dispersant application. The application dosage of dispersant had no more influence on releasing oil to deeper sediment or water than the amount of oil applied. When the outflow rate of flushing water doubled, the amounts of oil retained in surface sediment following flushing increased for about 6%. It was observed that the tested soap water acted effectively in dispersing floating oil, which was similar to that of the chemical dispersant used in this study.