BSEE study on Burning Oil in Ice Cavities leads to new discovery

The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement’s (BSEE) Oil Spill Response Research (OSRR) program has completed its review of an important new research project on burning oil in ice cavities and published the final results. The research project, funded by the bureau and completed by Worcester Polytechnic Institute in a lab, led to the discovery that the average burning rate is greater in an ice cavity than in a similarly-sized vessel or a pan.

The objective of this study was to assess the In-situ burn efficiency of oil spills in icy conditions and explore oil spill burning on ice. The fundamental problem of burning oil in an ice cavity is new to the fire science community, as such there were no prior experiments on the subject. This study included a series of experiments that were conducted to develop an understanding of the burning of crude oil in ice cavities. Alaska North Slope crude oil (~1.5 cm thick) was placed within ice cavities (5 – 100 cm wide and 6 – 25 cm high). It was found that because of the cavity expansion the average mass transfer of crude oil in the ice cavity is greater than in a similar-sized vessel or pan. The scientific problem examined in this research involves new fundamental studies about the interaction of a pool of oil burning in an ice matrix. This interaction represents an innovative aspect of this work that had not been studied before.The study has helped the bureau quantify the combustion efficiency and point of extinction for liquid fuel spills in icy conditions

Oil Spill Response Research Program (OSRR)

Burning Behaviour of Oil in Ice Channels

Objective:

Assess in-situ burn efficiency of oil spills in icy conditions and set new experimental and modeling framework to explore oil spill burning on ice. This will allow quantifying combustion efficiency as well as point of extinction for liquid fuel spills in icy conditions.

Objectives will be accomplished with phases below:

Phase I (Small-scale)

Identify controlling mechanisms governing spread and burning rate of a combustible liquid in an ice channel. Specifically, the influence of combustible liquid flash point, viscosity, channel width and channel height on spread and burning rate will be analyzed.
Interpret experimental results using a theoretical model developed as a part of this study.

Phase II (Large-scale)

Conduct oil-spread and burning study in a 10’x18′ ice matrix in the WPI Fire Science Laboratory.
Analyze predictive models developed during Phase I (small-scale) study and evaluate additional parameters due to increase in scale.

The project will be accomplished in a series of tasks below:

Phase I (Small-scale)

Construct a small-scale experimental apparatus to obtain controlling parameters governing the spread of a liquid (different viscosities) on a sheet of ice and an ice channel.
Construct a small-scale experimental apparatus to obtain controlling parameters governing the burning rate of a combustible liquid in a circular ice cavity. The influence of additional heat and mass transfer processes due to melting of ice will be explored.
Develop a model to predict the spread and burning rate observed in Task 1 and 2.
The model will be designed for easy implementation as an engineering tool for hazard analysis purposes.

Phase II (Large-scale)

Construct a large scale test (10′ x 18′) ice matrix to study the spread and consequent burning behavior of a liquid in the WPI Fire Laboratory. The impact of large-scale effects such as turns in a crack/fissure, turbulent plumes, radiation etc. will be quantified.
Re-assess the scalability of the model developed in Task 3. Additional parameters involved due to scale will be added.

Please click at image below to download the Final Report on Burning Behavior of Oil in Ice Cavities

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Through BSEE’s Oil Spill Response Research program, the bureau maintains a comprehensive research program dedicated to improving oil spill response options. The major focus of the program is to improve the methods and technologies used for oil spill detection, containment, treatment, recovery and cleanup. The bureau’s research program is a cooperative effort bringing together funding and expertise from research partners in government agencies, academia, industry and the international community. More information on BSEE’s Oil Spill Response Research program can be found here.

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