Dispersants, and to a lesser extent in-situ burning, are the most emphasized and researched alternatives. However, non-dispersing technologies such as solidifiers, elastomers, and coagulants hold much unrealized potential as alternatives that can be applied to spilled oil to prevent its spread and provide for its recovery and removal. As opposed to dispersants, these products actually allow for the removal the spilled oil from the environment instead of diluting it into the environment. Despite this fact, almost all the research and development, marketing, and scientific studies in the alternative response technology arena have focused on dispersants. This project aims to help move these alternatives into the general oil spill responders knowledge base as well as the into the regulatory pre-approval process.
The Council develops bibliographies and syntheses of relevant research in this subject area. These provide recent knowledge in the subject area which can then be used to aid the decision-making process about their use and the potential for funding future research.
See also our page on In-Situ Burning.
Non-dispersing Literature Reviews
The Council’s bibliographies can be found below. They were most recently updated in 2013.
| View additional details | Author | Date | Description | View Document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Review of Literature Related to Oil Spill Solidifiers 1990-2008 | Environmental Technology Centre, Merv Fingas | This report is a review of the limited literature on oil spill solidifiers published from 1990 to August 2008. The report identifies and summarizes data on solidifier effectiveness, composition, and … | ||
| Review Of Oil Spill Herders | Merv Fingas, Spill Science | Herding agents are surfactant mixtures or singular surfactants, used to drive thin slicks of oil to a desired location or to push slicks together so that they can be collected … | ||
| Review Of Solidifiers An Update 2013 | Merv Fingas, Spill Science | This paper is a review and update of oil spill solidifiers and summarizes data on solidifier effectiveness, composition, and application. | ||
| Surfacewashing Agents Or Beach Cleaners | Merv Fingas, Spill Science | Surface washing agents or beach cleaners or shoreline cleaning agents, are formulations containing surfactants and are designed to remove oil from surfaces such as shorelines. The desired mechanism is that … |