Crude oil and dilbit had similar foliar impacts, and for both, leaf abscission. A few weeks ago, a study conducted by the us national academy of sciences nas reported that the transportation of diluted bitumen is no more corrosive than conventional crude. Bitumen is a kind of crude oil found in natural oil sands depositsits the heaviest crude oil used today. In late summer of 2010, a break in an underground pipeline spilled approximately 1 million gallons of diluted bitumen into a wetland, a creek, and the kalamazoo river.
Exxons duckkilling pipeline wont pay taxes to oil spill. These components exist in varying degrees in all crude types. Dilbit diluted bitumen is the nastiest stuff the fossilfuel purveyors have ever devised, and they want to set us up for more disasters like the one in kalamazoo. The study, spills of diluted bitumen from pipelines, was released by the washington, d. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Bitumen is a thick, molassestype product that is found in regions around the world, but more locally in the oil sands regions of northern alberta, canada. A comparison of the properties of diluted bitumen crudes with other oils.
Powell was one of the people involved in the response and clean up of the kalamazoo. Data was acquired using the peak simple software suite sri instruments, california, usa, exported as text files and imported into specalign 2. Bitumen would not flow through a pipeline efficiently, so it is mixed with diluents to be readied for pipeline transportation as diluted bitumen, or dilbit. Bitumen is a collection of frameworks to help build lightweight web applications in java and other jvm languages. Relative pipeline impacts view report trans mountain is committed to working with a scientific advisory committee to address areas for future research and development on the fate and behaviour of diluted bitumen. A 1980 law ensures that diluted bitumen is not classified as oil, and companies transporting it in pipelines do not have to pay into the federal oil. Enbridge applied to the national energy board to reverse the flow of line 9, a 40yearold pipeline not designed to carry diluted bitumen. Before the 20th century, the term asphaltum was also used.
Summary environment canada scientists are on record several times stating that more research is needed to understand whether and to what extent diluted bitumen will sink in the event of a marine spill. Characterization and behavior of cold lake blend and western canadian select diluted bitumen products pdf 59 pp, 1. Acidsdiluted bitumen has high total acid, but the acid is not soluble in water and not reactive at pipeline temperatures. Diluting bitumen makes it much easier to transport, for example in pipelines.
At about 6 pm, july 25, 2010, engineers in the edmonton, alberta control room were monitoring enbridges keystone pipeline. As oil sands production rises, what should we expect at. Diluted bitumen is the same type of oil that could someday be carried by the muchdebated keystone xl pipeline 4. Short and longterm environmental monitoring programs were. Sometimes, its found near the surface mixed in with sand and. Is diluted bitumen more corrosive than conventional crude oil. Steam is used to extract the oil from the sand and the resulting crude is partially processed before its. In figure 51 the first column lists properties affecting transport. The sample spectra were aligned to the average spectrum using the default options in fftpeak. Diluted bitumen sinks when mixed with sediments, federal.
Is the trans mountain pipeline really an oceanmurdering. Effects of diluted bitumen on crude oil transmission pipelines committee for a study of pipeline transportation of diluted bitumen transportation research board board on energy and environmental systems board on chemical sciences and technology transportation research board special report 311 transportation research board washington, d. Effects of diluted bitumen on crude oil transmission pipelines. In the us, the epa and uscg define petroleumbased oil groups as follows. Inside the biggest oil spill youve never heard of, part 1. Miller, and samson ng department of chemical and biomolecular engineering, ms362, rice university, post office box 1892, houston. Turbulent flowdiluted bitumen is transported under conditions. Per the alberta oil sands bitumen valuation methodology, dilbit blends means blends made from heavy crudes andor bitumens and a diluent, usually naturalgas condensate, for. The inlet drive incident is the largest spill wcmrc has cleaned up on canadas west coast it was a diluted bitumen spill, and 95 per cent of the product was recovered.
Spills of diluted bitumen from pipelines examines the current state of knowledge and identifies the relevant properties and characteristics of the transport, fate, and effects of diluted bitumen and commonly transported crude oils when spilled in the environment. Exxon wont pay into cleanup fund because oil spilled in. The enbridge spill on the kalamazoo river was the largest dilbit spill in u. A narrative of what happens to two local families and the entire community when an oil disaster strikes. Diluted bitumen, a type of crude oil made from bitumen extracted from tar sands, has properties that warrant special. Microorganismsnot higher, diluted bitumen lacks essential resources for growth. A hunk of tar sands oil as mined photo credit argonne national laboratory. Measuring the fate of different diluted bitumen products.
The groups, which include greenpeace and the council of canadians, say clark must stick to her conditions and reject kinder morgans proposal, even though it is widely expected to receive. Can spill response organizations clean up diluted bitumen. With most of the diluted bitumen product remaining on the surface for 14 d, a rapid conventional clean up response may be e. And an explainer of how diluted bitumen dilbit, the form that tar sands crude take to travel through pipelines, is a hell of a lot harder to clean. A costly cleanup conservation council of new brunswick. What were learning from the oil sands dilbit dump into the kalamazoo river. Department of transportation dot needs to modify its regulations and planning in order to strengthen preparedness for accidental spills of diluted bitumen from pipelines, says a new report from the national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine.
Although bitumen has different heavymetal concentrations and components than conventional oil, their behaviour in a spill hasnt been studied. For the cleanup and remediation, some of the most intensive and. One of the types of crude oil derived from the canadian oil sands is bitumen, a heavy, sour oil. The average cleanup cost of every crude oil spill from the past 10 years in the u. Federal regulations should be strengthened to prepare for. The science is settled, said joe oliver, canadas minister of natural resources in a news release about the study. This helps save on transport costs but it can be a hazardous process. Jane williams speaks with myeengun henry about the challenge. Diluents are usually natural gas condensate, naphtha or a mix of other light hydrocarbons. Statement of task effects of diluted bitumen on the. It is separated from the sand and water in a centrifuge prior to dilution for transportation. Dilbit diluted bitumen is a bitumen diluted with one or more lighter petroleum products, typically naturalgas condensates such as naphtha.
Regulators, the industry and experts have studied and debated the impact of a dilutedbitumen spill, particularly whether a cleanup would require a different response than a conventional oil spill. Diluted bitumen, nicknamed dilbit, comes from oil contained in massive deposits of sand. If a diluted bitumen spill happens on canadas west coast, is it possible to. This report assesses whether the differences between properties of diluted bitumen.
Prove you can clean up diluted bitumen or reject kinder. Bc reopens the dilbit vs regular crude debate oil sands magazine. Understanding bitumen pricing glj petroleum consultants. The investigation is part narrative, part explainer. If this event in michigan were were more widely known and understood, the keystone xl pipeline issue would be dead on arrival. Oil sands opponents say dilbit is more toxic and difficult to cleanup, pointing to. Diluted bitumen dilbit is thick, heavy crude oil from the alberta tar sands also known as oil sands, which is mixed with a thinner type of oil the diluent to allow it to. If the mixture is not cooled down enough there is a danger that the vapours can catch alight, which is not only a significant health and safety hazard, it also creates a real possibility of. Pdf measuring the fate of different diluted bitumen. Effects of clay wettability and process variables on. Prospective impacts of oil spills on floodplain vegetation. Land research recent publications land, oil spill, and. Diluted bitumen, the molasseslike product that would be transported by the proposed northern gateway pipeline, sinks in salt water when battered by. There are two components in the diluted bitumen that have raised concern, namely acid and sulphur.
Cleanup crews must scoop up the bitumen from beneath the water to prevent further damage to the river. Bitumen is a mixture of heavy oil, sand, clay and water. The ability to clean up a spill of diluted bitumen depends greatly on whether or not the spilled product will remain floating on the surface, where it can be tracked. National energy board refuses to accept study on diluted.
Review the available literature and data, including any available data from oil spill. Download a pdf of spills of diluted bitumen from pipelines by the national academies of sciences, engineering, and medicine for free. A second option that exists for selling bitumen is via rail to the gulf of mexico. Fate of diluted bitumen spilled in the coastal waters of british. Environment canada has expressed concern that transport canada, the body that oversees and certifies spill responses, has not planned for the submersion or. Scientific studies are ongoing to ensure dilbit behaviour understood. Diluted bitumen has a lower viscosity, which means it can be transported in pipelines.
Petroleumbased oil that, at the time of shipment, consists of hydrocarbon fractions. Environmental protection agency during his presentation on march 10th at the national academy of sciences conference on the effects of diluted bitumen on the environment. Once the oil started to sink, it made things a lot more difficult on our recovery. Spilled diluted bitumen will mainly float in bc waters and wash up on the shoreline.
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