how do booms work in oil spills？

 On July 17, 2010, a fire broke out in an oil pipeline of PetroChina near Dalian Xingang, Liaoning. Although it took 15 hours to put out the fire, the fire was basically put out at about 9:00 on July 17, but the explosion caused some crude oil to leak into the sea. No casualties were caused in this accident. At about 18:00 on the 16th, a 300000 ton foreign oil tanker caused an explosion in the land oil pipeline and caused a fire and crude oil leakage when it leaked additional additives. As the explosion point is close to the oil storage tank group, the possibility of chain explosion is high and the situation is very critical. Dalian launched the red emergency plan overnight to deal with the accident. At that time, the fire of a 900 mm pipeline that caused the explosion was completely extinguished at about 23:30 on that day. However, the fire of another 700 mm pipeline caused by the explosion was not extinguished because the oil pump was damaged and the oil circuit could not be cut off. It continued to burn all night. There were at least six explosions at the scene, and the fire once occurred repeatedly. After nearly 1000 firefighters put out the fire for more than 15 hours, the fire was basically put out at about 9:00 on the 17th. There are still residual fires on the site that need to be cleaned up. The reporter learned from the Liaoning Maritime Safety Bureau that some crude oil leaked into the sea, causing at least 50 square kilometers of sea pollution in the nearby sea area., The maritime department has made all-out efforts to organize and coordinate the marine decontamination work and do a good job in the traffic organization of ships entering and leaving Dalian port. As of 16:00 on the 17th, the Liaoning Maritime Bureau had arranged about 7000 meters of oil containment boom in the oil spilled waters. Nearly 20 decontamination ships organized by the maritime department had carried out decontamination operations on the sea, and nearly 100 maritime workers were on the front line of decontamination and traffic organization. Four patrol boats have been stuck in the waters where the incident occurred, monitoring the oil pollution and laying oil containment boom. The measures for offshore oil treatment can be divided into physical methods and chemical methods. At present, the best choice is generally physical method. First of all, the use of chemical agents is not only costly, but may cause new pollution to the sea; Moreover, the physical method can also prevent the waste of oil and reuse the recovered oil.oil containment boom is a commonly used physical oil removal method, especially to remove oil pollution on a wide sea surface. During operation, the leaked oil shall be enclosed by a wall composed of empty oil drums and oil containment boom. Prevent the leaked crude oil from further spreading under the impact of wind and sea waves, and then add oil collecting agent to the water to make the oil layer thicker for recovery.

Here is the contene list:

• Introduction to oil containment boom.

• Basic structure of oil containment boom.

• Storage method of oil containment boom.

  

Introduction to oil containment boom.

The oil containment boom is a kind of equipment that collects oil spills, oil stains and other pollutants floating on the water surface by floating body with skirt under water to prevent diffusion. There are portable and solid floating pvc booms. The portable pvc silt curtain is composed of inflatable floating body, skirt, counterweight chain, tension belt and anchor. The materials used for the inflatable floating body and skirt have good characteristics of oil resistance, seawater corrosion resistance and anti-aging. They are easy to remove after being stained with oil, small in volume, light in weight and easy to operate after being deflated. Portable floating booms are divided into marine type, offshore type and port type according to the sea area. The above water height, draft, floating body diameter, length of each section, weight, tensile strength and other technical data o fpvc silt curtains used in different areas vary with their models. Portable oil containment fence are used to block oil pollution at the wharf and port. When the oil pollution spreads, they are generally fixed on the water surface where the fence is required. Solid floating oil containment fence have been widely used in water areas that need to be fenced for a long time, such as aquaculture farms, bathing beaches, waste steel ship dismantling waters, factory water intakes, etc.

Basic structure of oil containment boom.

oil containment fence can stably float on the water surface, and are used to prevent the spread of oil spills in the water area, reduce the oil spill area, transfer oil spills and floating objects, and protect the water environment. There are many types and forms of Rubber oil boom. But the basic structure is composed of floating body, skirt body, tension belt, counterweight and joint.

Floating body of Rubberc oil fence: the part that provides buoyancy for the Rubber silt curtain. Its function is to use air or buoyancy materials to provide buoyancy for the oil containment fence, so that the pvc oil boom can float on the water surface. The floating body can be placed inside or outside the surface of the pvc silt curtain.

Skirt of oil containment boom: refers to the continuous part of the pvc oil boom below the floating body. Its function is to prevent or reduce the escape of oil from under the oil containment fence.

Tension belt of oil containment fence: refers to the long belt member (chain and belt) capable of withstanding the horizontal tension applied on the oil containment boom. It is mainly used to bear the tension generated by wind, wave, tide and drag.

Counterweight of foam : ballast that can make the Rubberc oil fence sag and improve the performance of the pvc silt curtain. It can make the floating boom in an ideal state in the water. It is generally made of steel or lead, or water is used as ballast.

Joint of floating boom: a device permanently attached to the floating boom and used to connect each section of floating boom or other auxiliary facilities.

Storage method and maintenance of oil containment boom.

The storage and maintenance of oil containment booms are directly related to whether the rapid oil spill emergency response can be carried out and the containment operation can be effectively implemented. In order to ensure rapid response, the storage place of the floating boom shall be as close as possible to the wharf, operation point and sensitive resource protection area, and ensure that the storage place of the oil containment fence is convenient for vehicles and ships. The oil fence stored outdoors shall ensure that the storage place is well drained, and pay attention to insect pests, moisture and direct sunlight; When stored indoors, pay attention to moisture and ensure good ventilation conditions. Take necessary measures to prevent pests (such as spraying rodenticide) in advance according to the situation; The oil containment fence that need to be folded and stored shall be placed on the shelf and other items shall not be stacked on it to avoid deformation of the oil containment fence caused by excessive pressure. The stacked oil containment boom shall be regularly unfolded and inspected. The original folding marks shall be avoided during refolding; If it is necessary to store the oil containment boom on the reels, the oil containment boom shall be prevented from being twisted during the winding process, and the wrapped pvc silt curtain shall be regularly unfolded and recycled after inspection. The maintenance of the pvc silt curtain mainly refers to the daily maintenance and the maintenance after the recovery operation. The maintenance after the recovery operation is mainly to check whether the oil containment fence is damaged, whether the accessories are complete or whether it needs to be replaced and repaired; Routine maintenance generally check whether the oil containment fence is worn, broken, fiber aging, connector corrosion or damaged due to pulling and other loading and unloading reasons, and carry out necessary repair and replacement; The oil containment fence that have been placed in the water area for a long time should also be regularly maintained. Generally, the pvc silt curtain should be pulled ashore regularly according to the specific conditions to remove the marine organisms and other adherents attached to the surface of the pvc silt curtain; No matter what kind of maintenance and service is carried out, detailed records shall be made and inspection and maintenance items shall be arranged according to the records, so as to ensure that all contents involved in the oil containment boom can be inspected and maintained in a general way within a certain period of time, so that the oil containment boom is always in a good standby state.