Fate of dispersed marine fuel oil in sediment under pre-spill application strategy

A comparison of the movement of dispersed oil in marine sediment under two dispersant application scenarios, applied prior to and after oil being spilled overboard, was examined. The pre-spill application scenario caused much less oil to be retained in the top sediment than post-spill scenario. The difference in oil retention in the top sediment between pre- and post-spill application scenario increased with increase in fuel oil temperature. For fuel oil above 40 degreesC, the difference in the effect of pre-spill application strategy under various water temperatures was negligible. When soap water was used as replacement for chemical dispersant, almost one-half as much oil was retained in the top sediment as that when using chemical dispersant. The adsorption of dispersed oil to the top sediment was almost proportionally decreased with doubling of soap dosage. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.