Methods for reducing the size of an oil slick on a water surface or on a water surface when ice is present are described. Spreading of oil can be reversed by reducing the surface tension of the seawater, for example, by using a low concentration of at least one water-soluble surfactant, such as a non-ionic surfactant. A controlled amount of the surfactant or surfactant mixture may be discharged over time at the inner-wall of a spill control boom surrounding the oil spill, or within the vicinity of the oil spill in the absence of control booms using a soaker hose or a floating polyethylene or polypropylene hose impregnated with surfactant, whereby the confinement and contraction of the oil slick is maintained by compensating for dissolved surfactant and surfactant moving away from the oil slick. Water-soluble surfactants are typically solids or gels at low temperatures when no organic co-solvent is added to the surfactant. The solid or gel form is advantageous for generating slow, but continuous release of surfactant, and thus there is no need for an organic co-solvent. This is not the situation for oil-soluble surfactants, which require an organic co-solvent to be successfully applied at low temperatures. Mixing oil-soluble surfactants with water-soluble surfactants may overcome the problem of dispersing oil-soluble surfactant without an organic co-solvent at low temperatures.
本文介绍了减小
水面上或结冰
水面上浮油面积的方法。例如,通过使用低浓度的至少一种
水溶性表面活性剂(如非离子表面活性剂)来降低海
水的表面张力,可以逆转油类的扩散。表面活性剂或表面活性剂混合物的控制量可随着时间的推移排放到溢油周围的溢油控制围油栏的内壁,或在没有控制围油栏的情况下,使用浸泡软管或浸渍有表面活性剂的漂浮聚
乙烯或聚
丙烯软管排放到溢油附近,从而通过补偿溶解的表面活性剂和表面活性剂远离浮油来保持浮油的封闭和收缩。
水溶性表面活性剂在低温下通常为固体或凝胶状,此时表面活性剂中不添加有机助溶剂。固体或凝胶形式有利于缓慢但持续地释放表面活性剂,因此不需要有机助溶剂。油溶性表面活性剂的情况则不同,它们需要有机助溶剂才能在低温下成功使用。将油溶性表面活性剂与
水溶性表面活性剂混合使用,可以解决在低温下分散油溶性表面活性剂而不需要有机助溶剂的问题。