RAPID: Photochemical Fate of Oil Dispersants Used in the Gulf Oil Spill Clean-up

摘要：卡尔·林登建议编号：1043818机构：科罗拉多大学博尔德分校标题：墨西哥湾漏油清理中使用的石油分散剂的光化学命运这项研究是对路易斯安那州墨西哥湾英国石油公司(BP)深水地平线石油钻井平台爆炸后发生的事件的回应。英国石油公司正在采取的阻止石油流向海岸线的策略之一是使用分散剂。分散剂的设计目的是将大的油球分解成更容易生物降解的更小的液滴。然而，分散剂的使用数量比以往任何时候都多，并被注入到漏油源头的水下深处。美国环境保护署(EPA)对正在使用的分散剂的毒性极为关注，并向BP？发布了一项指令，要求从EPA授权的分散剂名单中识别和使用毒性较低、更有效的分散剂？这项建议被提交给快速计划，以提供与这场人为灾难有关的快速反应研究。根据这一快速提议进行的研究是研究泄漏清理工作中使用的分散剂的光化学命运，以确定阳光驱动的过程可以在多大程度上降解所使用的化学品。扩散到海洋中的表面活性剂和碳氢化合物的环境命运相对未知。这项研究的目的是(1)建立一种分析方法来跟踪分散剂(Corexit)在实验室中的衰减；(2)研究Corexit在实验室级水和合成海水中的阳光驱动降解；(3)获取含有分散剂的水的环境样品，并研究在背景水基质和溢油存在下的阳光衰减；以及(4)根据在墨西哥湾经历的水面上的阳光通量，对分散剂中可识别的化学物质的半衰期进行建模和估计。这项建议的理论价值是开发了有助于预测排放到墨西哥湾的分散剂的光化学命运的基础和应用数据。基本数据包括速率常数、量子产率和自由基反应速率，而应用的信息涉及化学物质的半衰期和化学影响的长期潜力。该项目的更广泛影响将主要集中在通过媒体、公共研讨会和关注漏油对环境影响的政府机构传播成果。他们在前往墨西哥湾调查该地区和收集样本期间的活动将通过网络帖子和推特等渠道进行传播。这些推文和互联网活动将被传达到科罗拉多大学博尔德分校的课堂上，例如2010/11秋季和2011年春季的环境工程基础。鉴于这次灾难事件的环境意义以及正在实施的应对这种情况的技术，该团队将使用该项目的信息，并将其纳入课程材料，作为加州大学博尔德分校NSF新资助的GK-12的一部分。资助这个快速项目的学生还将参加GK-12项目的资助，并将把结果纳入针对石油勘探的利弊以及这些领域对工程师的需求的课程中。一个简单的实验，即在烧杯中模拟漏油，并配有分散剂，也将被开发为一种动手？活动。

AbstractPI: Karl LindenProposal Number: 1043818Institution: University of Colorado at BoulderTitle: Photochemical Fate of Oil Dispersants Used in the Gulf Oil Spill Clean-upThis research is in response to events subsequent to an explosion on the British Petroleum (BP) Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Louisiana. One strategy that BP is taking to stem the flow of oil toward the shoreline is the use of dispersants. Dispersants are designed to break up large globules of oil into smaller droplets that would be more amenable to biodegradation. However, the use of dispersants is being carried out in larger quantities than ever before and being injected deep underwater at the source of the oil leak. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is extremely concerned about the toxicity of the dispersant being used and issued a directive to BP ?to identify and use a less toxic and more effective dispersant from the list of EPA authorized dispersants?. This proposal was submitted to the RAPID program to provide quick response research relating to this anthropogenic disaster. The research to be performed under this RAPID proposal is to study the photochemical fate of the dispersants used in the spill clean-up effort to determine the extent to which sunlight driven processes can degrade the chemicals used. The environmental fate of the surfactants and hydrocarbons being spread into the ocean are relatively unknown. The objectives of this study are to (1) develop an analytical method to follow the decay of the dispersant (COREXIT) in the laboratory using a mass spectral fingerprint analysis; (2) Investigate the sunlight driven degradation of COREXIT in laboratory grade water and synthetic ocean waters; (3) Obtain environmental samples of water containing the dispersant and study the sunlight decay in the presence of the background water matrix and oil from the spill; and (4) Model and estimate the half life of identifiable chemicals in the dispersant, based on sunlight fluences experienced in the Gulf on the water surface.The intellectual merit of this proposal is to develop both fundamental and applied data that will help predict the photochemical fate of dispersants discharged into the Gulf of Mexico. Fundamental data include rate constants, quantum yields, and radical reaction rates, while the applied information relates to half-life of the chemicals and long-term potential for chemical impacts. The broader impacts for this project will focus mostly on the dissemination of results via media, public seminars and governmental agencies concerned with the environmental impacts of the oil spill. Their activities during travel to the gulf to survey the region and collect samples will be communicated using outlets such as web postings and Twitter. These tweets and Internet activity will be communicated to classes in session at University of Colorado-Boulder such as Fundamentals of Environmental Engineering in Fall and Spring 2010/11. Given the environmental significance of this disaster event and the technologies being implemented to deal with the situation, the team will use the information from the project and incorporate it into course material as part of a newly funded GK-12 by NSF at UC-Boulder. The student funded on this RAPID project will also participate in the GK-12 grant and will incorporate the results into lessons targeting the pros and cons of oil exploration and also the need for engineers in these areas. A simple experiment where an oil leak is simulated in a beaker, complete with dispersants, will also be developed as a ?hands-on? activity.