Optimization on emergency materials dispatching considering the characteristics of integrated emergency response for large-scale marine oil spills

Many governments have been strengthening the construction of hardware facilities and equipment to prevent and control marine oil spills. However, in order to deal with large-scale marine oil spills more efficiently, emergency materials dispatching algorithm still needs further optimization. The present study presents a methodology for emergency materials dispatching optimization based on four steps, combined with the construction of Chinese oil spill response capacity. First, the present emergency response procedure for large-scale marine oil spills should be analyzed. Second, in accordance with different grade accidents, the demands of all kinds of emergency materials are replaced by an equivalent volume that can unify the units. Third, constraint conditions of the emergency materials dispatching optimization model should be presented, and the objective function of the model should be postulated with the purpose of minimizing the largest sailing time of all oil spill emergency disposal vessels, and the difference in sailing time among vessels that belong to the same emergency materials collection and distribution point. Finally, the present study applies a toolbox and optimization solver to optimize the emergency materials dispatching problem. A calculation example is presented, highlighting the sensibility of the results at different grades of oil spills. The present research would be helpful for emergency managers in tackling an efficient materials dispatching scheme, while considering the integrated emergency response procedure.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

An Analysis of the Responsible Parties of Inland Waters Oil Spill Damages

This paper mainly discusses the determination of the responsible parties of inland waters oil spill damages. Firstly, the article enumerates the legislative pattern of the regulations on inland waters pollution as well as comparison of the various paradigms. Secondly, it analysis the pollution sources which resulting in the inland waters oil spill. Finally, the article discussed the methods of determination of responsible parties in various inland waters oil spill accidents according to China’s tort liability law and relevant laws and regulations

Novel superhydrophobic and superoleophilic sugarcane green ceramic hollow fibre membrane as hybrid oil sorbent-separator of real oil and water mixture

The frequent oil spill accidents in nowadays has aroused great attention all over the world. Superhydrophobic and superoleophilic grafted on various substrates have attracted much attention to treat oil and water mixture because of their unique performance that can effectively separate oil and water mixture. At the same time, ceramic membrane also shows potential substrates to be used in treating oil and water mixture. However, conventional ceramic membrane that made from alumina show drawbacks in term of its high cost production. Herein, we report a new ceramic membrane that derived from agricultural-sugarcane bagasse waste and modified into superhydrophobic and superoleophilic to act as hybrid oil sorbent and separator. In this study, we successfully treat three types of real oil and water mixture from palm oil mill effluent (POME), restaurant and car wash with oil rejection and flux up to 99% and 134 L/m2h, respectively. In summary, this work demonstrates a facile, economic and effective method to fabricate superhydrophobic and superoleophilic substrates for oil and water separation

An innovative, fast and facile soft-template approach for the fabrication of porous PDMS for oil-water separation

Oil wastewater and spilled oil caused serious environmental pollution and damage to public health in the last years. Therefore, considerable efforts are made to develop sorbent materials able to separate oil from water with high selectivity and sorption capacity. However most of them are low reusable, with low volume absorption capacity and poor mechanical properties. Moreover, the synthesis is time-consuming, complex and expensive limiting its practical application in case of emergency. Here we propose an innovative approach for the fabrication of porous PDMS starting from an inverse water-in-silicone procedure able to selectively collect oil from water in few seconds. The synthesis is dramatically faster than previous approaches, permitting the fabrication of the material in few minutes independently from the dimension of the sponges. The porous material evidenced a higher volume sorption capacity with respect to other materials already proposed for oil sorption from water and excellent mechanical and reusability properties.This innovative fast and simple approach can be successful in case of emergency, as oil spill accidents, permitting in situ fabrication of porous absorbents

Use of bamboo fiber in oil water separation

One of the environmental issues facing the society is the separation of oil from water in emulsions. Oily wastewater enters into the environment through many ways such as oil spill as well as from the industry. Natural fibers are a viable alternative to synthetic fibers in separating oil from the water. The oil physical characteristics and sorbents made from the fiber influences the sorption of oil onto the fiber. This work uses the naturally available bamboo fibers for separation of oil from water. Very high adsorption capacities were obtained for vegetable oil. Furthermore, recovery of oil was also tested and 90% recovery was obtained. Bamboo fiber has thus great advantage in treating oil-water mixture

Decision support system for emergency management of oil spill accidents in the Mediterranean Sea

This paper presents an innovative web-based decision support system to facilitate emergency management in the case of oil spill accidents, called WITOIL (Where Is The Oil). The system can be applied to create a forecast of oil spill events, evaluate uncertainty of the predictions, and calculate hazards based on historical meteo-oceanographic datasets. To compute the oil transport and transformation, WITOIL uses the MEDSLIK-II oil spill model forced by operational meteo-oceanographic services. Results of the modeling are visualized through Google Maps. A special application for Android is designed to provide mobile access for competent authorities, technical and scientific institutions, and citizens

Risk assessment of oil spill accidents-application of two methodologies to Saronikos gulf

134 σ.Οι πετρελαιοκηλίδες αποτελούν μια σοβαρή απειλή για κάθε θαλάσσιο και παράκτιο περιβάλλον. Πολυάριθμα είναι τα ατυχήματα που έχουν συμβεί σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο και το απέδειξαν με τις καταστροφικές τους συνέπειες. Η απειλή αυτή αποκτά ακόμα μεγαλύτερη βαρύτητα σε περιοχές που έχουν μεγάλη ναυτιλιακή κίνηση και ταυτόχρονα υψηλή περιβαλλοντική, κοινωνική, οικονομική ή/και τουριστική αξία. Μια επιστημονική λοιπόν προσέγγιση του κινδύνου που επιφυλάσσει ένα περιστατικό πετρελαιοκηλίδας ώστε να αποφευχθούν, να περιοριστούν ή να αντιμετωπιστούν οι επιπτώσεις του κρίνεται απαραίτητη, ειδικά σε μία χώρα που βασίζεται στην ναυτιλιακή της ανάπτυξη, όπως η Ελλάδα. Για το σκοπό αυτό, στην διπλωματική αυτή εργασία εφαρμόζονται και συγκρίνονται δύο μεθοδολογίες που αφορούν την εκτίμηση επικινδυνότητας ατυχημάτων πετρελαιοκηλίδας με εφαρμογή στο Σαρωνικό κόλπο. Ο Σαρωνικός κόλπος επιλέχθηκε ως περιοχή μελέτης γιατί συγκεντρώνει με διαφορά τη μεγαλύτερη ναυτιλιακή κίνηση της Ελλάδας, ενώ παρουσιάζει επίσης μεγάλη περιβαλλοντική και τουριστική αξία. Η εκτίμηση της επικινδυνότητας, που μελετάται σε αυτήν την εργασία, αποτελεί μαζί με τη διαχείριση της επικινδυνότητας την έννοια της ανάλυσης της επικινδυνότητας. Η εκτίμηση περιλαμβάνει τις διαδικασίες εκείνες που αφορούν την αναγνώριση και την αξιολόγηση του κινδύνου. Μία τέτοια μελέτη μπορεί να συμβάλει στην ετοιμότητα, ακόμα και στην αποφυγή ατυχημάτων, ενώ σε περίπτωση πραγματικού ατυχήματος μια μελέτη διαχείρισης συμβάλλει στην έγκαιρη και σωστή αντιμετώπισή του, συντελώντας ενεργά στη λήψη απόφασης για τη σωστή διαχείριση των πόρων και την εφαρμογή των κατάλληλων μέτρων για την αντιμετώπιση του ατυχήματος και τον μετριασμό των επιπτώσεών του. Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τα αποτελέσματα του υδροδυναμικού μοντέλου FLOW-3DL και ενός μοντέλου πετρελαιοκηλίδας, που αναπτύχθηκαν από τον Τομέα Υδατικών Πόρων και Περιβάλλοντος του Τμήματος Πολιτικών Μηχανικών του Εθνικού Μετσόβιου Πολυτεχνείου, καθώς τα θαλάσσια ρεύματα και η τροχιά της πετρελαιοκηλίδας αντίστοιχα είναι απαραίτητα στοιχεία για μια μελέτη εκτίμησης της επικινδυνότητας, παρουσιάζονται δύο μεθοδολογίες εκτίμησης της επικινδυνότητας. Η πρώτη, η οποία αναπτύχθηκε από το πανεπιστήμιο Bogazici της Κωνσταντινούπολης σε συνεργασία με το Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο, αποτελείται από ένα μοντέλο βασισμένο στη θεωρία του Bayes και υπολογίζει τη διακινδύνευση ως το γινόμενο της πιθανότητας και της επίπτωσης ενός ατυχήματος. Η δεύτερη μεθοδολογία βασίζεται στα Γεωγραφικά Συστήματα Πληροφοριών και υπολογίζει τη διακινδύνευση ως το γινόμενο του ενδεχόμενου κινδύνου και της τρωτότητας της περιοχής. Το αποτέλεσμα αυτών είναι η δημιουργία χαρτών επικινδυνότητας/διακινδύνευσης, που υποδεικνύουν τις πιο πιθανές και τις πιο ευαίσθητες περιοχές έναντι ατυχήματος πετρελαιοκηλίδας. Οι περιοχές που προκύπτουν κοινές και από τις δύο μεθοδολογίες να κινδυνεύουν περισσότερο από ατύχημα πετρελαιοκηλίδας είναι η περιοχή γύρω από το λιμάνι του Πειραιά, οι βορειοδυτικές ακτές της Αίγινας και η περιοχή κοντά στα Ίσθμια.An oil spill accident is a serious threat for all marine and coastal environments. Several oil spill accidents have occurred worldwide with severe environmental and economical consequences. This is even more true for areas having high environmental, social and/or touristic value, like Saronikos Gulf in Greece. A serious and scientifically rigorous identification of the hazard and risk related to oil slicks is becoming mandatory in order to prevent or mitigate the impact of oil dispersal at sea and adjacent coasts. For this reason, two different methodologies of oil spill risk assessment are implemented at Saronikos Gulf. Saronikos Gulf was chosen as the study area because it includes many ports, one of which is Piraeus, the largest and busiest port in Greece, and therefore it plays an important role in the country’s economy. Besides, there are several beaches and natural protected areas along the coasts of the Saronikos Gulf. Risk assessment of oil spill accidents refers to those actions that include hazard identification and estimation and it can prove to be extremely useful during an emergency management, like an oil spill accident. More specifically, it can help to the phase of planning, mitigation and preparedness of a contingency plan and contribute to the protection of life, property and the environment. An oil spill risk assessment needs the results that are obtained from a hydrodynamic model and an oil spill model, that is the wind currents and the oil spill trajectory. In this project the results from the Flow-3dl hydrodynamic model and the oil spill model that were developed from the researchers of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) were used. The first methodology of oil spill risk assessment, which was developed from the researchers of the Bogazici University (BU), is based on a Bayesian Model and the accident risk is considered as the product of accident probability and accident impact. The second one is based on Geographic Information Systems (Gis) and defines the accident risk as a product of hazard and vulnerability. The result of both methodologies is a risk map, where the areas most at risk from oil spill accidents are indicated. The common areas at highest risk between the two methodologies are the coastal areas near Piraeus Port, the north-western coasts of the island of Aegina and north-western end of the Gulf near the town of Isthmia.Ελευθερία Β. Κραγιοπούλο