Table 1 Comparison of the mesoscale testing facilities
From: Dispersants as marine oil spill treating agents: a review on mesoscale tests and field trials
Test facilities | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
Straight flume tanks | Dispersion test under a controlled and repeatable mixing energy level Operational effectiveness tests (in some large-sized tanks) | High operational cost Cannot perform in-situ weathering, Have difficulty in waters replacement |
Circulating flume tanks | Investigate the oil evolution under controlled environmental conditions; Test the dispersibility of weathered oils (i.e., evaporation, emulsification, photo-oxidation, dispersion) at realistic conditions | Less controlled waves Oil behaviors could be affected by close oil and wave generator interaction |
Floating cells | Evaluate the oil dispersibility in real sea state (i.e., temperature, salinity, wind and current) Assess the fate and behavior of oil and dispersant | The release and distribution of oil could be affected by the wind The spreading of oil could be affected by its containment Request logistics support and permit |
High-pressure tanks | Evaluate the subsea dispersants injection (SSDI) effectiveness under high pressure Test SSDI effectiveness of “live oil” | Can only reflect the initial stage of oil dispersion at deep water Size is limited |
Large water column testing tanks | Evaluate/visualize the sedimentation behaviours of spilled oil Assess oil droplet and gas behavior at subsurface Enables experiments with larger oil flow rates over longer time spans | Ambient pressure The tank size limited the oils that can be released into the tank, and challenges the scaling of oil droplet size data |