Oil Spill Water
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
ASSIGNMENT
An oil installation should have an oil spill contingency plan. Construct your own oil spill contingency plan for a small tanker. List approx 5 short points.
The Oil Spill Contingency Plan for a small tanker should contain
The prevention procedures of an oil spill
Minimising the spread of oil spill
Oil Spill Management Strategies
Oil Spill Emergency Procedures
Oil Spill Recovery Routes
Activation Of Oil Spill Equipment deployment
Notifying to the Authorised Personnel
Protection of marine and coastal resources from impact by oil.
2) Choose TWO of the following four drain treatment packages.
Bilge systems
Chlorination
UV Sterilisation
Biological Digestion
Describe the types of materials it can be used to treat and how it treats the materials entering a drain.
CHLORINATION
Chlorination is a water treatment that destroys disease-causing bacteria, nuisance bacteria, parasites and other organisms. Chlorination also removes soluble iron, manganese and hydrogen sulphide from water.
To chlorinate a water supply properly it is necessary to understand chlorine demand, free available chlorine residual and contact time.
Chlorine demand is the amount of chlorine required to kill bacteria, oxidize iron or other elements in the water, and oxidize any organic matter that may be present. Free available chlorine residual is the amount of chlorine remaining in the water after the chlorine demand has been met. If the chlorine demand is greater than the amount of chlorine introduced, there will be no free available chlorine residual. Contact time is the amount of time that the chlorine is present in the water. The combination of chlorine residual and contact time determines the effectiveness of the chlorination treatment.
Chlorination - running water
http://www.securitywsd.com/images/Chlorination_water_run.JPG
UV STERLIZATION
UV sterilization is a process for removing (referred to as filtering) unwanted free floating microscopic water borne bacteria, parasitic, fungal, viral, algae, and other unfriendly pathogens out of aquarium water by exposing it to high intensity ultra-violet (UV) light. UV light has the ability to affect the function of living cells by altering the structure of the cells nuclear material, or DNA. The end result is the organisms die off, eradicating your aquarium water of these unwanted nuisances. A UV sterilizer works in harmony with other essential filters by eliminating nuisance green water caused by waterborne algae that can easily create problems and ultimately reduce filter efficiency.
2) You are about to establish a new drilling site on an island off the West Australian coast, list FIVE aspects that should be considered in an environmental impact assessments on the area before the project commences and discuss why you have chosen each one.
The Drilling site is on an island of the Western Australian Coast (Offshore because all the islands in the Western Australian Coast are greater than 3 n miles. The Commonwealth Environmental Protection Act requires all the projects to be referred to the state Department Minerals and Energy to make assessment. The aspects that should be considered in an environmental impact assessment on an area before the project commences are
Information on the Environment
Information on the Project
Impact Evaluation
Information on the Environment:
Information on the environment means gathering information on the sensitivity of the environment. A hydrological study and ecological study should be done on the environment. A SEISMIC SURVEY should be done regarding the disturbances to other users of the environment(social impact, noise, air quality),avoidance of the fish, marine mammals, turtles, birds etc and regarding the flora and fauna in that environment. Information should also contain the climatic conditions, Geomorphology, Tides and currents of that environment.
Information on the Project
Information of the project means obtaining the information on the nature of the proposed project. Information of the Project consists of the Drilling, Production Infrastructure and Production Operations. The DRILLING includes the location away from the sensitive areas, drilling mud or cuttings disposal and waste disposal. The PRODUCTION INFRASTRUCTURE includes the location, erosion prevention, drainage, colour and waste disposal. The PRODUCTION OPERATIONS includes the Produced water, wash water, drainage (treatment and disposal), Chemical (selection and storage), Gaseous emissions control, (vent or flare design), Abandonment, Contingency Planning and Societal Aspects.
Impact Evaluation
Impact Evaluation consists of the Dispersion calculation and Comparison with standards. Impact Evaluation predicts how the environment can be affected. Impact Evaluation involves the modelling dilution and dispersion for aqueous and gaseous discharges to allow comparison of predicted values with ambient water or air quality standards.
3) List THREE environmental sensitivities to take into account when planning EITHER an offshore or onshore (seismic) survey. Briefly discuss the measures taken to minimise the impact of the survey with regard to the sensitivities you have chosen.
Offshore seismic
http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2001/03mar/contractors.jpg
OFFSHORE SEISMIC SURVEY USING AIRGUNS:
|
ENVIRONMENTAL SENSITIVITIES |
MITIGATION MEASURES |
|
Ocean Water Impacts |
Contingency Plan with basic dispersant Cyclone season should be avoided. Discussing with Local Meteorological agencies in getting some advice. |
|
Socio-Economic Impacts |
Advice should be given to local community on survey activities and timings During Tourist season no surveying should be done. |
|
Operational Impacts |
Surveying should not be done during cyclone season. Surveying should not be done during wet season Discussing with Local Meteorological agencies for possible weather windows. |
|
Fauna Impacts |
Avoiding survey during Humpback whale migration period. Following Whale Avoidance Procedures. Dedicated whale monitoring team. Using barges to transport waste to onshore landfills or recycling. |
4) Discuss briefly, each of the issues of infrastructure placement, waste control, and oil spill risk, with regard to offshore and onshore production facilities.
The three issues relating to Offshore and Onshore Production facilities are
Infrastructure Placement
Waste Control
Oil Spill Risk
INFRASTRUCTURE PLACEMENT:
Offshore-------When the Production facility is placed near to sensitive coastal areas, the activities may cause damage to coral reefs.
Onshore--------When the Infrastructure Placement is in onshore it depends upon the type of environment. If it is in urban areas it is due to visual intrusion, noise, lights. If it is in temperate rural areas it has the need to avoid areas of Conservation value. If it is remote area like desert, rainforest it is due to opening of access.
WASTE CONTROL
The Waste Control depends upon
Produced Water
Atmospheric Emissions
Drains
Chemical Use
Solid / liquid waste
Produced Water
Oil Content and salinity are considered to be important in Produced Water.
Produced Water can be of considerable volume.
Offshore-----There is rapid dilution to non toxic levels within 100 m of discharge
Onshore-----Produced Water should be reinjected to prevent damage by oil and salinity.
Atmospheric Emissions (Offshore and Onshore)
Methane which is released due to venting is a greenhouse issue. Carbon dioxide whish is released due to flaring is a greenhouse issue. Methane is a stronger greenhouse gas than CO2.Flaring is always preferred to venting. Venting and Flaring are caused due to gas disposal from oil field where there is no gas market, when the gas compressor fails, emergency disposal, if there is any valve leakage. Purge and pilot are sources for flaring. Chlorofluorocarbons whish is used as refrigerants and fire fighting agents causes ozone depletion.
Drains
Drains are used to keep the drainage of potentially contaminated areas separately from the areas where contamination is unlikely. Drains are to treat the effluent from potentially contaminated areas. Physical Oil and water separation is the usual way to treat the drains.
Chemical Use
The physical and chemical property of a chemical is considered to be important. Toxicity, biodegradability and bioaccumulation play a vital role. Chemical control is required with regard to selection, supply, storage and use.
Solid / liquid waste
The Solid and liquid waste consists of oily sludges, waste oils, waste chemicals which includes paints, solvents etc and special waste consists of filters.
The Solid and liquid waste should be based on the principle of 3Rs which refers to reduce, reuse and recycle.
OIL SPILL RISK
When the Oil spill is of small frequency and high volume it is due to blowouts and ruptures. When the Oil Spill is of higher frequency and low volume it is due to platform operations malfunction. Oil Spill Contingency Plan should be in place for all oil installations. Booms, Skimmers; Dispersants are used for Clean-Up Operations during Oil Spill. Controls should be in place to prevent all oil spill scenarios.
5) Environmental engineering is driven by economics and politics, not science.
How true do you believe this statement is and why. Justify your decision.
Environmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the environment (air, water, and/or land resources), to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites. Engineers seek solutions to problems, and the economic viability of each potential solution is normally considered along with the technical aspects. Politics and Economics focuses on the theoretical, methodological and practical dimensions of cooperative solutions to international environmental problems. The Environmental Organisations and the Environmental Protection Act which are there to protect the environment are designed and governed by government and driven by economics and politics.
Thus, I strongly believe that Environmental Engineering is driven by economics and politics and not by science.
REFERENCES:
www.webct.uwa.edu.au
2) http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2001/03mar/contractors.jpg
3) http://www.aapg.org/explorer/2001/03mar/contractors.jpg
4) www.wikipedia.com
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