Controlled Burn Operations,
Gulf of Mexico,
Deepwater Horizon
Burn dates from April 28th to July 19th, 2010
2
n 240 people
n 49 vessels - 330’ Barge
n 15 burn teams
n 3 Task Forces
n 3 Fixed Wing Aircraft
2
On Site Management Team O’briens Group- Logistics
Elastec/American Marine-Tactical
Support from Briggs Marine
U.S. Coast Guard-Oversight
Firebooms have been developed and tested over 20 years.
Newfoundland 1993
Svalbard 1988
North Sea 1996
ASTM Standards for Fire Boom Testing.
U.S. Coast Guard has performed and funded testing different
booms.
Fireboom Types
n First Generation - Ceramic / metallic floats
n Second Generation - Inflatable
RepresentativeRepresentativeBurn RatesBurn Rates
n
0.07 gal./min./ft2
2.85 liters/min./m2
1,710 m3/hour/hectare
4,350 bbl/hour/acre
Models used during Gulf of Mexico operations.
n Fireboom was in short supply BP brought boom in from different companies
and countries.
n American Marine / 3M
n Elastec Hydro-Fire® Boom
n Pyroboom - Applied Fabrics
n Oil Stop - 3 systems failed
n Kepner-2 systems failed
A total of 411 controlled burns were conducted from April 28th to July 19, 2010
using five different types and generations of fire boom.
3M / American FireboomManufactured by Elastec / American Marine
Pyroboom
n Manufactured by Applied
Fabrics, USA
Second Generation Hydro-Fire Boom
* Water cooled
* Inflatable
* Reusable
* Fire resistant over
its entire length.
Manufactured by
Elastec / American Marine
Fires may be started with Helitorch
1999 U.S. Coast Guard Exercise
Or with floating ignition devices
Transportation requirements needs to be considered
Storage volume onboard
First trial burn – 28 minute
Multiple burn teams were created
Mega Burns –on June 18th burns
disposed of an estimated 70,000
barrels
n
Burning plans, approvals and procedures were developed
Fire jumping booms
Emissions were monitored by EPA
Aerial surveillance
was critical
Pryoboom - Longest burn 3 hours 13 minutes
AmerIcan Marine / 3m - Longest burn : 11 hours 21 minutes.
Hydro-Fireboom had the longest burns.
11 hours 48 minutes
10 hours 20 minutes
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What we knew before.
•• Nearly all fresh-to-lightly weathered oils can beNearly all fresh-to-lightly weathered oils can beignited in calm-to-moderate wind/seaignited in calm-to-moderate wind/seaconditions.conditions.
•• Left over residue is 3% to 5% of total volume.Left over residue is 3% to 5% of total volume.
•• One needs containment for effective burns.One needs containment for effective burns.
•• Spills from blowouts, tankers and pipelines haveSpills from blowouts, tankers and pipelines havebeen ignited and burned successfully.been ignited and burned successfully.
•• Burning is a safe, rapid and cost-effective optionBurning is a safe, rapid and cost-effective optionfor the removal of large quantities of oil.for the removal of large quantities of oil.
•• Fire boom & igniter technology has improvedFire boom & igniter technology has improvedsubstantially over the past 25 years.substantially over the past 25 years.
What we learned from largest amount of controlle burns
in oil spill history.
n Firebooms underwent the most extensive evaluation ever.
n Actual fires are much larger than can be created in a test tank.
n No boom withstood the fires indefinitely.
n Second generations booms are easier to handle, less time spend deploying,
recovering and repairing equals more oil burnt.
n Burning oil is definitively a proven response option.
n Burning oil requires less logistics than skimming.
n Burning oil requires the right combination of conditions – oil type and sea
conditions.
n When conditions are right burning can remove vast amounts of oil from the
marine environment.
n Burning can deal with trash or debris laden oil that presents issues for
mechanical devices.
n Burn plans should be reviewed and updated.
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Questions?
n
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