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The Importance Of Oil Spills

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Many people are familiar with tanker accidents, since they are highly publicized, and they release large volumes of oil into the ocean. Only a small percentage of global oil spills are related to tanker accidents due to explosions, hull failure, or running aground, however. These spills tend to be very harmful because of the sheer volume of oil released at once, and they pose a serious threat to marine animals and seabirds. Such disasters frequently bring attention to issues with safe oil handling, which can lead to reforms in petroleum regulation.
Oil spills in the water can also be caused by natural seepage. As tectonic plates shift, oil can be released from reserves trapped deep beneath the ocean floor. Natural seepage is sometimes accelerated …show more content…

When droplets of hydrophobic oil are suspended in water, the very polar water molecules which attract each other very strongly, in a very short time squeeze out the nonpolar oil molecules, causing them to coalesce and float to the top. When an emulsifying agent like detergent is added, a suitable emulsion of alkyl benzene results with specific gravity of 0.856 (Whitten et al, 1985); the detergents are usually large chemical of sodium salt like sodium lauryl benzene sulfonate, with a polar head and non-polar tail, and if added to oil-water mixture in the pore and shaken vigorously, will form a fine emulsion, which is safely flushed out into drains or released into the environment (Whitten et al, …show more content…

METHODOLOGY
3.1 Sources of Oil Spillage
Spills can happen in the open seas, close to shores or in lakes, streams and rivers, land (AWMA, 2000).
3.2 Classifications of Oil Spill
Oil spills are classified according to a combination of factors notably magnitude, real or potential impact on the environment and the resources required of effective response. These classifications include (Emory University, 2014):
Minor Spill: this spill ranges from less than 25 bbls discharged on inland waters or less than 250 bbls discharged on land, coasted/offshore waters. Minor spills can be handled safely without the assistance of emergency response personnel.
Intermediate Spill: it ranges from 25 to 250 bbls discharged on inland waters, while that of spills discharged on land/coastal/offshore waters is 250 to 2500 bbls.
Major Spills: these are spills greater than 250 bbls discharged on inland waters or greater than 2500 bbls discharged on land, coastal/offshore waters.
3.4 The Computer Model for Determining Class of

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