This project will evaluate the tendency of oils to emulsify at sea into unstable, meso-stable, or stable emulsions. Until now there were only laboratory scale tests of emulsification and some analysis of emulsions collected at sea during clean up operations. The proposed work will extend the laboratory work into the Ohmsett tank and evaluate the factors that affect emulsification, such as oil slick thickness and wave energy in a controlled, reproducible environment like Ohmsett. The scaling problems of trying to apply the laboratory scale tests to at sea condition will also be addressed by using the Ohmsett. The project will use eight oils, most of which are from OCS wells including three from deep water wells in the Gulf of Mexico.
Initial testing at Ohmsett was accomplished in July 2000. Another set of tests including two crude oils from the Gulf of Mexico is scheduled for the last week of November 2000. The tests ended up using 8 types of oils when additional tests were done in 2001. The project was finished in early 2002.