REPUBLIQUE DU CAMEROUN

REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON

Paix-Travail-Patrie

Peace-Work-Fatherland

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MINISTERE DE LEMPLOI ET DE LA FORMATION PROFESSIONEL

MINISTRY OF EMPLOYMENT AND VOCATIONAL TRAINING

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GULF FIELD NATIONAL ADVANCED SCHOOL PETROLEUM

GULF FIELD NATIONAL ADVANCED SCHOOL OF PETROLEUM

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FACULTE DINGENIERIE PETROLIERE

FACULTY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

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DEPARTEMENT DE PETROPHYSICS

DEPARTMENT OF PETROPHYSICS

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TERM PAPER ON H.S.E (QHSSE)

TOPIC: OIL SPILL CLEAN UP SAFETY
Course lecturer; EYONG DIVINE

HPD: PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

A TERM PAPER PRESENTATION FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF

THE END OF FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATION

DonePAPER
and present
by:
TERM
PROJECT
ASHU GERMAIN AMBE

CASSIEL OBI-AKO LIAMBA

NZEBELAI ELVIS ZOALEFAC
CHUWANZI COURAGE

SUPERVISOR: MR. DIVINE EYONG

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We extend our acknowledgement For the Director General Mr. KUMASI SIMON POWOH for his
divine dream, high initiative, relentless effort in making petroleum engineering studies (GFNASP),
a reality in Cameroon and our gratitude for the intellectual and professional know-how of our
lectuer Mr. DIVINE EYONG for taking and impacting us through our career. Not letting out
sincere gratitudes to our parent for all the support needed.

DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to the entire school of GULF FIELD NATIONAL ADVANCED SCHOOL
OF PETROLEUM and to all the students of faculty of petroleum, not letting out our lecturer MR.
DIVINE EYONG for the entire knowledge he has impacted on us on the field of Production
Engineering.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..i
DEDICATIONii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
1.GENERAL INTRODUCTION.4
2.RISK ASSESSMENT5
3.METHOD OIL SPILL CLEAN-UP7
4.EFFECT OF OIL SPILL9
5.SOME MEASURES TAKEN TO REDUCE THE RATE OF OIL SPILL10
6.CONCLUSION.13
7.REFERENCES14

1.GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Our planet, Earth, has large reserves of oil and gas trapped deep beneath its surface. Occasionally,
these reserves develop cracks and some of the oil or gas seeps out. However, this is a part of nature
and rarely causes any major damage.
An oil spill can be defined as an accidental or deliberate dumping of oil or petroleum products into
the ocean and its coastal waters, bays, and harbors, or onto land, or into rivers or lakes (Holum
1977). An oil spill happens when liquid petroleum is released into the environment by vehicle,
vessel or pipeline. It happens on a large scale and is mostly seen in water bodies. It happens due to
human negligence and is a major form of pollution. The sources of the spill are many. Crude oil
can be released by tankers on land. In water bodies, the spill occurs due to drilling rigs, offshore oil
platforms and well. Oil spills and their effects can also be experienced with refined petroleum or
even waste oil from large scale industries. What is common in all of them is that the damage
caused by them is permanent and takes a long time to clean up.
As oil spill, it floats on water and prevents sunlight to pass through it. The shiny substance that you
see sometimes on top layer of water is nothing but oil which makes it difficult for plants and sea
animals to survive. Cleaning up of oil spill is no easy task. Various factors need to be considered
before carrying out operations.

2.RISK ASSESSMENT
Introduction
The first task that should be undertaken when preparing to conduct oil spill response operations is
a comprehensive risk assessment and hazard analysis. When an oil spill occurs the management

team will need to carry out a high-level risk assessment of the overall situation as soon as possible
to ensure that oil spill responders or the wider population are not in danger. The initial approach
should be to answer such questions as:
0 Is there a potential gas cloud and therefore an explosion risk?
0 Should people be evacuated or excluded?
0 Is the environment safe for people?
0 Will oil enter water systems that may affect people?
This initial safety assessment may lead to the establishment of safety or exclusion zones whilst the
area is monitored in more detail. This may include the use of monitoring equipment to detect
flammable or toxic gases and materials. The persistence of these sorts of hazards is not usually
great, but this issue is more significant with the more volatile oil types and in calm weather
conditions.
Monitoring should continue until it can be established that the risk has reduced to acceptable
levels. Once the overall situation has been stabilized from a safety point of view then the work of
responding to the oil spill can begin. In normal circumstances responders are not likely to be
exposed to areas in which there is an explosion or toxic vapour risk. Specialist source control
teams, who are trained and equipped to work within these high-risk areas, are the ones most likely
to enter these environments.
When responding to a spill, the risks posed by particular operations or locations should be assessed
on a case-by-case basis. One way of dealing with this situation is through the use of a Site Safety
Survey Form (Appendix 1). This form, when completed by a competent individual from the
response team, can be used to identify the various hazards and determine if they present a risk.
Once identified, appropriate control measures can be taken to mitigate the risks. Those personnel
involved in carrying out risk assessments must have sufficient training and knowledge to
understand the potential hazards presented by the operations. The process of risk assessment is
intended to identify all of the potential hazards. Once this has been completed, the probability and
the severity of any potential incident should be predictable. Those incidents most likely to occur
frequently or those most likely to cause the greatest harm, should be dealt with first. Account must
be taken of who might be harmed, and how.
There are a number of techniques in common use for the assessment of risk. Some rely on
descriptive ranking, while others employ a numerical scoring system to produce an order of
priority. Whatever system is employed; it is important that all the assessments are carried out in a

consistent manner. Once the likelihood and severity of risks have been considered, the precautions
available should then be examined to determine their effectiveness. If the hazard continues to
present a risk, then additional measures should be put in place. There is an accepted hierarchy of
approach that may be summarized as follows:
0 Prevent access to the hazard
0 Organize the work in a way that exposure to the hazard is reduced
0 Use PPE
The risk assessment should be fully documented and filed. During the conduct of operations, the
risk from the spilled oil will inevitably change but many of the physical risk factors in the
environment will remain constant. As a matter of course, the workplace hazards should be
periodically reassessed and the suitability of previously selected hazard controls re-evaluated. The
possibility of reviewing previous risk assessments will assist in getting consistency of approach.
The Site Safety Survey Form (Appendix 1) is a means of documenting the particular hazards at
any particular site or those arising from particular operations. In the main, hazards can be seen to
arise from a number of specific areas:
0 the spilled product itself and response chemicals;
0 the working environment;
0 risks during response operations;
0 risks from machinery used in the clean-up operation; and risk from xternal factors

3.METHODS OF OIL SPILL CLEAN-UP

3.1. Chemical dispersants

Oil dispersants work in the same way as dishwashing liquid. Both are made up mainly of surfactant molecules these are molecules
that have a hydrophilic (water-loving) head that is attracted to water molecules and a hydrophobic (water-hating) tail that repels water
and simultaneously attaches itself to oil and grease. The result of these opposing forces is that the oil is broken up into tiny droplets
suspended in water. Breaking the oil at sea into oil droplets allows them to be dispersed into the underlying sea by wave action. It is
hoped that naturally occurring bacteria would then consume the droplets and the dispersant would rapidly biodegrade. Dispersants are
usually applied to oil on water by spraying from surface vehicles or by applying from small fixed-wing aircraft or helicopters.

3.1.1. Problems with dispersants:

International scientists argue that, although modern dispersants are less toxic than ones in the past,
dispersants help to spread oil more widely into the environment. Dispersants do help to stop large
amounts of oil fouling beaches and coating surface-dwelling animals, but animals on the seafloor
will experience more pollution. Oil droplets reaching the seafloor tend to be the same size as food
particles for filter-feeding organisms. Many environmental scientists are also concerned about the
inherent toxicity of dispersants. Some argue that dispersants themselves can be toxic some at least
as toxic as dishwashing liquid and could be more harmful to the environment than the oil itself.
3.2. Booms and skimmers: Booms contain the oil so that skimmers can collect it. Booms are
floating barriers placed around the oil or whatever is leaking the oil. Skimmers can be boats,
vacuum machines, sponges or oil-absorbent ropes that skim spilled oil from the waters surface
within the booms.

3.3. Leave the oil alone: Some scientists argue that oil spills should be left to disperse naturally.
Oil spills are dispersed by natural physical processes in high-energy environments where strong

winds, currents and wave action help to break up the oil. However, oil that reaches low-energy
environments gets buried in sediments and may persist for several years.
3.4. In situ burning: Freshly spilled oil is ignited while its still floating on the water.
Dispersants and booms and skimmers are the most frequently used methods to clean up ocean oil
spills. All methods have advantages and disadvantages. The effectiveness depends on the situation
the amount and type of oil, the ocean currents and tides and the weather. Some methods can be
harmful to the environment. Oil clean-up agencies have to make decisions about the safety of
chemicals used in water such as the dispersant Corexit 9500.

4.EFFECT OF OIL SPILLS:

4.1. Environmental Effects: First of these is the environmental effect. The animal life that lives in
the water or near the shore are the ones most affected by the spill. In most cases, the oil simply
chokes the animals to death. Others that live face a number of other problems. The oil works its
way into the fur and plumage of the animals. As a result, both birds and mammals find it harder to
float in the water or regulate their body temperatures.
4.2. Effect on Economy: The second major effect of the oil spill is seen on the economy. When
precious crude oil or refined petroleum is lost, it affects the amount of petroleum and gas available
for use. This means more barrels have to be imported from other countries. Then comes the
process of cleaning the oil spill, which requires a lot of financing. Although the company
responsible for the oil spills and their effects has to clean it up, there is a lot of government help
required at this point. The workers that are brought on board to clean up the spill face tremendous
health problems later in life as well.
4.3. Effect on Tourism Industry: The local tourism industry suffers a huge setback as most of the
tourists stay away from such places. Dead birds, sticky oil and huge tar balls become common
sight. Due to this, various activities such as sailing, swimming, rafting, fishing, parachute gliding

cannot be performed. Industries that rely on sea water to carry on their day to day activities halt
their operations till it gets cleaned.

5.

PREVENTIVES METHOD OF OIL SPILL

5.1. Improving Dispersant Communication Tools:

Better communication is needed to promote understanding of the benefits and limitations of

dispersants during a response effort, as well as the safety and effectiveness of dispersant products.
The JITF is developing a series of fact sheets and other communication tools to address various
aspects of dispersants. These tools will assist industry and government officials in educating the
public and community stakeholders about what dispersants are, how they work, when their use is
considered, and any associated environmental trade-offs and potential human health effects.
5.2. Assessing Research Efforts and Needs

Since the Deep-water Horizon oil spill, a number of dispersant-related research meetings have
occurred or are planned. Because of this, the JITF recognized the need to interact at some level
with all of these efforts and is developing a means to enhance coordination of research efforts

overall.
In addition to direct interaction of researchers and the resultant exchange of ideas, there is a need
to review, evaluate, and possibly address published research results in a timely manner. Toward
this end, an expert panel will be chartered to review data collection efforts for spill impact
assessments and evaluation of ecological recovery rates for offshore, near-shore, coastal and
estuarine areas impacted by spills.
5.3. Subsea Injection of Dispersants

Subsea dispersant injection is a novel technique that was used during the Deepwater Horizon oil
spill response effort. This technique played an important role in not only protecting the
environment but also the health and safety of workers in vessels attempting to contain the well.
Industry plans to incorporate this tool in response strategies for deepwater wells.
CONTAIN IT WITH A GIANT UNDERWATER DOME.

It may sound insane but desperate times call for desperate measures and BP engineers have begun
working on an enormous dome that they propose could be lowered over the massive oil spill in the
Gulf of Mexico. They are hoping that the dome could contain the 1,000 barrels of oil floating
towards the Louisiana coastline, but admit that it will take at least 2 weeks precious time that we
cant afford to construct.

SOP IT UP WITH MUSHROOMS AND HAIR

Mushrooms and hair not a combo that youd like to find in a sandwich, but mats made from the
mixture offer a totally organic and effective way to sop up oil on water. The technique isnt just
speculation either it was actually utilized in the Cosco Busan oil spill of 07!

UTILIZE BACTERIA TO EAT UP THE OIL

Did you know that the key to ridding the oceans of oil may already lie in underneath its surface?
Bioremediation using naturally present microorganisms to clean up oil spills which make use of
bacteria living in the ocean that actually eat the oil when it enters their natural habitat. Adding
sulfate or nitrate fertilizers to the microorganism population causes them to multiply beyond their
natural state and eat up the toxic metals invading their home at up to five times the rate that they
would without assistance.

SOAK IT UP WITH HYPER ABSORBANT PEAT MOSS

A Norwegian company has come up with a totally natural way to soak up nasty oil slicks good
old peat moss! The super absorbent moss theyve developed can be scattered on the spill to absorb
the oil, and then scooped right out of the water along with the oil.

CONCLUSION
Use of dispersants as a first response option to oat spills should be considered along with
mechanical cleanup. Implementation of this recommendation must consider spill size, logistical
and contingency planning, equipment and dispersant performance and availability, appropriate
regulations, and personnel training. Prompt response with dispersants is essential because the
disposability of oil decreases rapidly with weathering of} components by evaporation which may
occur in the first few hours, which may occur over several days.

REFERENCES:
Oil

Spill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_spill

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-

Major

Oil

Spills

resources/stories/the-13-largest-oil-

spills-in-history
Spill response dispersants kill fish, journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.
Retrieved 2010-05-21.

Dr. Brian Dicks (1998), Paper presented at the International Seminar on Tanker Safety,
Pollution Prevention, Spill Response and Compensation, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil