The purpose of the study was to determine the partitioning of different chemical emulsions breakers between oil and water phases when they are used to enhance decanting of recovered water from offshore skimming operations. This proposed effort built upon a previous projects entitled Testing at Ohmsett to Determine Optimum Times to Decant to Temporary Storage Devices (Project 298) and Extending Temporary Storage Capacity Offshore With Emulsion Breakers (Project 395) where S.L. Ross tested at Ohmsett to decant at several different periods to determine the best time to separate excess water collected during oil spill clean-up operations. Knowing the proper time to decant insured that the captured oil was not re-released into the water and it will allow the skimming vessel to remain on location longer. Adding chemicals to this operation will further aid water/oil separation and allow for more frequent and cleaner decanting.
Project is now completed.