The efficacy of in-situ burning as a counter measure to oil spills in Arctic marine waters

就地燃烧作为北极海域漏油对策的效果

• 批准号: RGPIN-2019-05355
• 负责人: Stern, Gary
• 金额: $ 3.13万
• 依托单位: University of Manitoba
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=754980
• 关键词: efficacy; situ; burning; counter; measure

As climate change brings reduced sea ice cover and longer ice-free summers in the Arctic, northern Canada is experiencing an increase in shipping and industrial activity in this sensitive region. Disappearing sea ice therefore makes the Arctic region susceptible to accidental releases of different types of oil and fuel pollution resulting in a pressing need for scientific knowledge to underlie regulatory policy formulation in this area. In situ burning (ISB) of spilled oil as an oil spill cleanup countermeasure is gaining acceptance because of its distinct advantages over other countermeasures. This technique can convert large quantities of oil into its primary combustion products, CO2 and H2O. It requires less equipment and labour and can be applied in areas such as the Arctic where many other methods cannot due to lack of response infrastructure and/or lack of alternatives. Burning of oil also produces dense black smoke primarily composed of black carbon (soot). These smoke particles can also contain (or be coated with) condensed organic compounds, sulphates. Burning also produces gaseous pollutants such as  CO, NOX, SO2, and a wide range of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Of most concern are the more carcinogenic pyrogenically produced particle (submicron) bound multi-ring parent PAHs. This raises serious health concerns with respect to the potential for increasing concentrations of respirable particles and toxic gases from the burning of oil. Recent ISB studies conducted on oil sampled from the 2010 Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, showed that the oil burning process doubled the concentrations of the polar aromatic compounds partitioning into the water phase. Using Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometry (FTICR-MS) subsets of these compounds were identified as being highly condensed PAHs and the potentially more hazardous oxygenated compounds. While FTICR-MS is a powerful technique for the characterization of complex mixtures such as oil (and burned oil) the instrumental limitations constrain the structural predictions that can be made regarding the chemical composition. There is a strong need, therefore, to identify the structural characteristics of these water soluble polar organic pyrogenic compounds so as to better understand the pathways of their molecular production and unambiguous structural identifications and allowing for more comprehensive toxicological studies. This proposed research will identify and quantify water soluble pyrogenic transformation products and atmospheric emissions of various types of fuel oils when exposed to in-situ burning under varying Arctic marine environmental scenarios. It will provide vital information needed to conduct further environmental process and toxicological studies and contribute to ISB usage policies (alone or in combination with other mitigation technologies) needed by regulatory agencies, nongovernmental and Indigenous organizations, and the private sector.

随着气候变化带来北极海冰面积的减少和更长时间的无冰夏季，加拿大北部这一敏感地区的航运和工业活动正在增加。因此，海冰的消失使北极地区容易受到不同类型的石油和燃料污染的意外释放，因此迫切需要科学知识来制定这一领域的管制政策。溢油的就地燃烧(ISB)作为一种溢油清理对策正因其相对于其他对策的显著优势而被人们所接受。这项技术可以将大量石油转化为其主要燃烧产物二氧化碳和水。它需要较少的设备和劳动力，并可应用于北极等许多其他方法无法应用的地区，因为缺乏应对基础设施和/或缺乏替代方法。燃烧石油还会产生浓重的黑烟，主要由黑碳(煤烟)组成。这些烟雾颗粒还可能含有(或覆盖有)浓缩的有机化合物硫酸盐。燃烧还会产生气态污染物，如一氧化碳、氮氧化物、二氧化硫和各种挥发性有机化合物(VOCs)。最令人担忧的是致癌性更强的热解生成的颗粒(亚微米)结合的多环母体多环芳烃。这引起了严重的健康问题，即燃烧石油可能会增加可吸入颗粒物和有毒气体的浓度。ISB最近对从2010年深水地平线漏油事件中采集的石油进行的研究表明，石油燃烧过程使分配到水相中的极性芳香化合物的浓度翻了一番。利用傅里叶变换离子回旋共振质谱仪(FTICR-MS)鉴定了这些化合物的亚群为高度浓缩的多环芳烃和潜在的更危险的含氧化合物。虽然FTICR-MS是表征石油(和燃料油)等复杂混合物的一种强大技术，但仪器的局限性限制了可以对化学成分进行结构预测的能力。因此，迫切需要确定这些水溶性极性有机热解化合物的结构特征，以便更好地了解它们的分子产生途径和明确的结构鉴定，以便进行更全面的毒理学研究。这项拟议的研究将确定和量化各种类型燃料油在不同北极海洋环境情景下就地燃烧时的水溶性热解转化产物和大气排放。它将提供进行进一步的环境过程和毒理学研究所需的重要信息，并有助于制定监管机构、非政府组织和土著组织以及私营部门所需的ISB使用政策(单独或与其他缓解技术结合使用)。