CONTROL METHOD OF OIL SPILL AT SEA

The first step that must be done in penangannan oil spills (oil spill) at sea is to localize the oil spill using float divider (oil booms), which will then be transferred to the pumping device (oil skimmers) to a receiving facility "reservoir" in the form of tank or balloon. These countermeasures are most effective when conducted in waters that have low water hydrodynamics (currents, tides, waves, etc.) and extreme weather.

Some oil spill response techniques including in-situ burning, mechanical allowance, bioremediation, the use of sorbent and the use of chemical dispersants. Each of these techniques has a different oil removal rate and effective only under certain conditions.

a. In-situ burning is the burning of oil on the surface of the water so as to overcome the difficulties of pumping oil from the sea surface, storage and lug oil and associated sea water, which is found in the preliminary physical techniques. This method requires the availability of booms (barrier to prevent the spread of oil) or a fire-resistant barrier. Some constraints of this method is the large spill events that gave rise to the difficulty to collect the oil and maintain the sufficient thickness to be burned and evaporation of flammable oil components. The other hand, the residue pembakara who drowned in the sea floor will give bad for ecological effects. Also, the possibility of uncontrolled spread of fire.

b. The second way is a mechanical oil removal through two stages by using a localized spill booms and oil transfer into the container by using a mechanical device called a skimmer. This effort countless difficult and expensive although referred to as the ideal solution, especially to reduce the oil in sensitive areas, such as beaches and areas that are difficult to clean and the early hours of the spill. Unfortunately, the presence of wind, currents and waves resulted in this way encountered many obstacles.

c. The third way is bioremediation is to accelerate the process that occurs naturally, for example by adding nutrients, resulting in the conversion of a number of components into less harmful products such as CO2, water and biomass. In addition to having a small environmental impact, this method can significantly reduce the impact of the spill. Unfortunately, this method can only be applied to certain types of beaches, such as sandy and pebbly beaches, and not effective to be applied in the ocean.

d. The fourth way using a sorbent that can be set aside oil through the mechanism of adsorption (attachment of oil on the surface of the sorbent) and absorption (absorption of oil into the sorbent). This sorbent function change the oil phase from liquid to solid so easily collected and set aside. Sorbent should have hydrophobic characteristics, oleofobik and easily deployed on the surface oil, retrieved and reused. There are 3 types of natural organic sorbent (cotton, straw, hay, sawdust), natural inorganic (clay, vermiculite, sand) and synthetic (polyurethane foam, polyethylene, polypropylene and nylon fibers)

e. The fifth way is to use chemical dispersants to break up the oil slick into small droplets (droplet), thereby reducing the possibility of trapping the animals into the spill. Chemical dispersants are chemicals with an active substance called surfactant (derived from the words: surfactants = surface-active agents or surfactants).