Applied Chemistry

bunker fuel. SINTEF was asked by SFT to perform daily analyses of the oil that was spilled and recovered from “Green Ålesund”. This was valuable information in connection with the recovery operations. A site visit, with sampling and environmen-tal monitoring along the shorelines and in-situ measurements of oil concentrations in the water column, was performed shortly before Christmas. The measurement of oil concentrations, using UV-Fluorescence, was repeated a week later. SINTEF has recently signed a contract with SFT to per-form chemical and biological monitoring of the environment, over a period of the next 9 months.

Samples of oil from the unloaded bunker fuel as well as from the engine room of “John R” were sent to SINTEF. As one of several options use of chemical dis-persants was evaluated as a response action. It was concluded that the oil in the engine room was a mixture of the IF-180 Bunker fuel with some Marine diesel (ten-tatively 20%) and Lubricants (tentatively 10%). Dispersibility testing of the Bunker onboard “John R” indicated that the dis-persants can be used on this oil type, with a “window-of-opportunity” of up to 24 hours.

No. 1 - 2001

Chemical and biological monitoring of heavy fuel oilsAt the end of year 2000 two incidents with grounding of cargo vessels took place along the coast of Norway. Just before Christmas, 15. December 2000, the vessel “Green Ålesund” grounded at the cliffs on the west coast between Stavanger and Bergen in Norway. Approximately 400 m3 of oil was unloaded from the ship’s tanks. The Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT) was leading the emergency unload-ing operation. Approximately 100 m3 of heavy bunker fuel was spilled onto the sea and hit the shorelines in a bay close by. Most of the oil released to the sea was successfully recovered, in the bay and along the shorelines. Local authorities

assisted by SFT were in charge of the oil spill recovery operation. On Christmas day another grounding took place in north-ern Norway. The ore freighter “John R” grounded on a reef. Only small amounts of oil were discharged to the sea surface and quickly evaporated and naturally dis-persed. The vessel carried considerable amounts of heavy fuel oil (HFO), and the fuel tanks were successfully unloaded. This was a cooperation between SFT and NMD (the Norwegian Marine Directorate) supplied by the Coast Guard and the Coastal Authorities. The vessel broke in two the 2. January 2001, and the aft part, still on the reef, contained another batch of oil (estimated at approximately 100 m3) fl oating on top of seawater in the engine room.

Analyses at SINTEF indicated that “Green Ålesund” carried non-dispersible heavy fuel oil, while “John R” carried IF-180

Contact persons:

SFT: “Green Ålesund” tom-w.hansen@sft.no“John R” bjorn.bratfoss@sft.no

SINTEF: per.daling@chem.sintef.noivar.singsaas@chem.sintef.noalf.g.melbye@chem.sintef.no

HFO on shore, Green Ålesund

Green Ålesund

Environmental Engineering

Environmental monitoring - Erika Oil Spill

Contact Person:

Alf G. MelbyePhone: +47 73 59 13 85E-mail: alf.g.melbye@chem.sintef.no

Sintef Applied Chemistry has more than 20 years of experience with envi-ronmental monitoring in the vicinity of the oil installations in the North Sea and in near shore locations, e.g. characterisation of effects of industrial effl uents and aquaculture.

The Maltese tanker ERIKA broke in two during a severe gale off Brittany, France in the Bay of Biscay December 12. 1999. The tanker was travelling from Dunkerque, France to Livorno, Italy with a cargo of approximately 30,000 tonnes of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO). During the fi rst month, approxi-mately 120,000 tonnes of oily waste was recovered from the coastline.

The oil spill affected fi sheries, shellfi sh production (oyster and mussel farming), and salt production, resulting in fi shing bans and production restrictions.

Sintef Applied Chemistry was con-tracted by International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Ltd (ITOPF) to per-form sampling and analysis of intake water to the salt ponds, salt pond sedi-ments and sediments in the bay feed-ing the salt ponds with seawater. Salt produced prior to and after the Erika incident has also been analysed with respect to oil components.

The objective of the study was to ana-lyse water for possible contamination of hydrocarbons, and possible positive oil spill identifi cation with HFO from the Erika tanker.

Sampling of water was performed using a Filter-Extraction device, fi ltering large volumes of water through a 3 mm glass fi bre fi lter and an adsorbent

(XAD-3). The programmable pump enabled the Sintef fi eld team to obtain adsorbent samples and fi lters repre-senting approximately 100-L seawater. By using this methodology, it is possi-ble to detect single PAH components at concentrations in the sub-ng/L range, by GC/MS analysis.

Sediment samples in the bay, feeding

the salt ponds with water, were taken to obtain a complete picture of possible oil contamination in the area. Sediment samples taken inside the salt ponds and salt samples from 1999 were ana-lysed to establish the background level of hydrocarbons prior to salt production. A follow-up analysis of salt produced this summer has been analysed to establish the possible effect of the Erika spill. All sediment and salt samples were analysed by GC/MS.

The analytical results gave no indications of hydrocarbon contamination, and have sup-ported the deci-sion of resuming salt production in the area.

Salt ponds at Ile de Noirmountier

A glass fi ber fi lter after fi ltering of approx. 30 l of water

Left and right:Deployment of the Filter-Extraction device

Environmental Engineering

Fifth International Marine Environmental Modelling Seminar 2001

Hosted by

U.S. Minerals Management Service, Herndon, VirginiaSINTEF Applied Chemistry, Trondheim, Norway

New Orleans 9-11 October, 2001

You are cordially invited to participate in the year 2001 International Marine Environmental Modelling Seminar. The purpose of the conference is to provide a forum for scientists and environmental managers to exchange information and viewpoints on environmental issues.

Special emphasis is placed on recent developments in applications tools for environmental assessment. Interna-tional and inter-disciplinary applications for environmental management support are of special interest.

For registration and information:http://www.sintef.no/units/chem/environment/sem2001/invitation.htm

May K. Ditlevsen, SINTEF Applied Chemistry

e-mail: may.ditlevsen@chem.sintef.no

Tel. + 47-73-591364

Fax. + 47-73-597051

IMEMS 2000 was co-hosted by SINTEF Applied Chemistry, the National Research Centre for the Physical Sci-ences and the National Centre for Marine Research. The venue at the hotel Armonia on the scenic and balmy Aegean coast encouraged the usual collegial atmosphere, which pre-

vailed in the technical sessions as well as the social activities. (See the sample pictures on the web site http://www.sintef.no/units/chem/environment/sem2000-web/foto_athen.htm for ample confi rmation!) Peer review of papers for publication in a special issue of Marine Pollution Bulletin is now underway.

The co-chairs, Mark Reed (SINTEF) and Kostas Nittis (National Center for Marine Research) wish to take this opportunity to thank the session chairs, the presenters and all the attendees for contributing to another successful semi-nar. Greetings to all our new friends! We look forward to seeing you again in New Orleans in October, 2001.

Additional information:

Mark Reed mark.reed@chem.sintef.no

To be placed on the IMEMS email list, send mail to May.Ditlevsen@chem.sintef.no

Report from Athens: Fourth International Marine Environmental Modelling Seminar, IMEMS 2000

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Environmental Engineering Newsletter

Environmental EngineeringN-7465 Trondheim, Norway

Phone: + 47 73 59 28 73Fax: + 47 73 59 70 51

http://www.sintef.no/units/chem/environment

Layout: Tone Aas Heggenhougen

Applied Chemistry

Please return if the addressee is unknown, or has left your company

Biodegradation of oil droplets and oil fi lms in seawaterAfter discharges of oil to the sea-water and dispersal in the water column the oil compounds are dis-tributed between soluble and oil droplets phases. The microorganisms in the seawater will rapidly start degrading the water-soluble oil com-pounds, which are generally trans-formed within few days, generally resulting in reduced toxicity to marine organisms. However, the degradation rates of oil droplet-associated com-pounds are much slower, both because of the reduced bioavailability to the seawater bacteria and the higher molecular complexity of the hydrophobic compounds. Thus, com-pounds in the oil droplet phase may persist in the water column, resulting in a prolonged risk of effects to the organisms ingesting the oil droplets.

Biodegradation testing of oil in the seawater column has generally been performed on water-soluble com-pounds, or with the complete dis-persed oil. Studies of the oil com-pound phase-distribution during bio-degradation, are important for the linking of biodegradation to the fate and effects of oil compounds asso-ciated with environmental impacts in the seawater column. We have devel-oped a biodegradation test system

Contact Person:

Odd Gunnar Brakstad,Phone: +47 73 59 63 97odd.brakstad@chem.sintef.no

in which the oil is immobilised as a thin fi lm (10 µm) on the surface of hydrophobic membranes. In this way the biodegradation is related to the oil surface, and data are extrapolated to dispersed oil with known droplet con-centrations and size distribution. The membranes are incubated in natural seawater for a) biodegradation stud-ies of the immobilised oil, and b) the dissolution and degradation of oil compounds released to the seawater. The gas chromatographic diagrams shown in the fi gure demonstrate that the C10-C36 saturated hydrocar-bons were maintained after mem-brane immobilisation, with the excep-tion of the C10-C12 saturates, which were partly dissociated from the membranes. The fi gure also shows that solubility of an immobilised crude oil during biodegradation was negli-gible.

This system will also enable biodeg-radation studies in fl ow-through sys-tems, replacing conventional static systems.

Figure. Gas chromatographic diagrams of the C10-C36 fraction of a crude oil (A and B) show the C10-C36 saturated hydrocarbons in a crude oil (A) and the saturates of the same oil after immobilisation (B). Depletion of immobilised oil and distribution between immobilised and dissolved phases during a biodegradation period of 2 months at 13°C are also shown (C).

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