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Investigating the effect of oil spills
on the environment and public health.
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Funding Source: Year One Block Grant - The Alabama Marine Environmental Science Consortium

Project Overview

Chemical Engineering Applications to Study the Chemical Evolution and Biological Degradation of the Oil-Dispersant Systems and Subsequent Interaction with the Marine and Coastal Ecosystems

Principal Investigator
The University of Alabama
Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering
Member Institutions
Auburn University, Auburn University at Montgomery, Florida State University, The University of Alabama, University of South Alabama, Vassar College

Summary:

This study includes the following research projects:

  1. Chemical Engineering: Effects of BP Dispersants on Adsorption/Desorption and Biological Fate of Persistent Oil Hydrocarbons
  2. Chemical Engineering: Enhancement of Oil/Dispersant Degradation in Mesocosms.
  3. Chemical Engineering:  Assessing the Effects of Oil/Dispersant on Mobility and Biotransformation of Toxic Metals in Gulf Coastal Wetlands
  4. Chemical Engineering: Dispersant/Oil/Particulate formation and fate (deep water). Molecular simulation will be performed to model droplet-particulate growth at deep-sea conditions (42 °F and over 2,300 psi of pressure).
  5. Chemical Engineering: Experimental Dispersant/Oil/Particulate formation and fate (deep water). Experimental droplet-particulate formation using commercial dispersants at deep-sea conditions.
  6. Chemical Engineering: Dispersant/Oil/Particulate formation and fate (ambient). Experimental droplet-particulate formation with dispersant at ambient conditions near the shoreline.

This research was made possible by a grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.
www.gulfresearchinitiative.org