Application of FTIR Remote Sensing Spectroscopy in Environmental Impact Assessments of Oil Fires.
Application of FTIR Remote Sensing Spectroscopy in
Environmental Impact Assessments of Oil Fires.
(572 K)
Nyden, M. R.; Grosshandler, W. L.; Lowe, D. L.; Harris,
R. H., Jr.; Braun, E.
Air and Waste Management Association. Optical Sensing
for Environmental Monitoring (SP89). International
Specialty Conference Proceedings. October 11-14, 1993,
Atlanta, GA, Air and Waste Management Assoc.,
Pittsburgh, PA, 767-779 pp, 1993.
Keywords:
oil spills; FT-IR; benzene; environmental effects;
spectroscopy; crude oil; evaporation; combustion; sand
Abstract:
A series of laboratory measurements was conducted to
determine the extent to which benzene and other aromatic
components are destroyed when crude oil is burned on the
open seas. The atmosphere above a pan containing
Alaskan North Slope crude oil was monitored with a
remote sensing FTIR spectrometer during both evaporation
and burning. This data was used in conjunction with gas
chromatographic analyses of the oil obtained before
ignition and after the fire was extinguished (by
covering the pan with a marinite slab) to estimate the
C6H6 destruction efficiency of the oil fire. The
results of these laboratory measurements are viewed in
the context of data collected during mesoscale oil fires
conducted at Little Sand Island in Mobile, Alabama.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899