Question 4 http://engineeringtraining.tpub.com/14079/css/14079_136.htm http://environment.about.com/od/petroleum/a/oil_spills_and_environment.htm http://eol.org/communities/8/collections?gclid=COmSsM-Sw7QCFao7MgodA1oA4g http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7924009/BP-leak-the-worlds-worst-accidental-oil-spill.html http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/us/03spill.html?_r=2&fta=y& http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/05/08/14902/bubble-methane-triggered-rig-blast/ http://greenliving.nationalgeographic.com/oil-spill-cause-pollution-3082.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu-oxaR5J18 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbHZCIIjqc4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh76oepKFc8 http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/nov/02/bp-oil-spill-costs-40-billion-dollars http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/06/16/us-oil-spill-idUSN1416392020100616 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/25/us/25clean.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7964175/Microbe-eating-spilled-oil-in-Gulf-of-Mexico.html
Oil Spill Lab
Prelab Questions:
1. I think Bioremediation is the method to get rid of oil spills. I think this is the best method because it gets rid of the oil without leaving anything behind. It is also affective because you don’t have to monitor the bacteria they eat the oil and when the oil is gone they die. Another benefit of bioremediation is that it is cost efficient. It helps with money issues because you only have to use one method of cleaning an oil spill and with other methods you usually have to use more than one.
2. Some ways we can minimize the risk of oil spills are to make sure all of the piping and storage is installed properly. Another we can do is reducing the usage of oil which will reduce transfer of oil and eventually prevent some oil spills. Though this will be difficult it is something we could do. Also if we had better storage to place the oil barrels and monitoring officers to make sure the storage is safe it could prevent oil spills.
3. Oil spills affect coastal environments strongly and they affect three main species such as birds, marine mammals and fish. Oil spills affect birds because the oil gets on their feathers not allowing them to fly and they might get stranded in the water and drown. Also because birds rely on scent to find their babies the oil scent will overpower the bird’s senses not allowing them to find their babies. This will result in the babies being abandoned and starving. Oil spills affect marine mammals such as whales and dolphins. The oil can kill whales by clogging their blowhole. Also when marine mammals eat other creatures, the other animals have oil on them as well so whales are consuming food that is contaminated with oil. Finally oil spills affect fish and their eggs. Spills affect their eggs because the oil kills the eggs.
4. On April 20 2010 the Deepwater Horizon oil well erupted in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. This incident was the largest accidental marine oil spill recorded in history and it lasted for three month. About 5 million leaked and to this day only 800 000 barrels of oil were captured during containment operations. What caused this tragedy to occur was an explosion at the drilling rig. At approximately 9:45 pm high pressures of methane gas expanded into the drilling riser and went to the drill rig causing the explosion. Oil spills affect the environment but mainly the marine environment and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill affected marine life greatly. The oil spill caused physical effects on wildlife such as birds. It affected birds because the oil on the surface of the water got onto the feathers of the bird not allowing it to fly. Spills also release toxins into the atmosphere which can be lethal to animals. Habitats can also be destroyed such as coral reefs which are very delicate. Food chains are also affected because when organisms consume other contaminated organisms they too become contaminated. Not only did the BP