Methods of Cleaning Up Oil Spills

There are many different ways of cleaning up oil spills but I will be mostly highlighting the most currently used and popular ones that have been used recently in oil spills. Also highlighting different methods depending on the scale of spills.

Bioremediation

•Bioremediation is the use of microorganism metabolism to remove pollutants.Technologies can be generally classified as in situ or ex situ. In situ bioremediation involves treating the contaminated material at the site, while ex situ involves the removal of the contaminated material to be treated elsewhere.

• Some examples of bioremediation technologies are phytoremediation, bioventing, bioleaching, landfarming, bioreactor, composting, bioaugmentation, rhizofiltration, and biostimulation. Bioremediation can occur on its own or can be spurred on via the addition of fertilizers to increase the bioavailability within the medium (biostimulation). 

• Recent advancements have also proven successful via the addition of matched microbe strains to the medium to enhance the resident microbe population's ability to break down contaminants. Microorganisms used to perform the function of bioremediation are known as bioremediators

Most used strain is Pseudomonas

Surface Dispersants

Chemical dispersants, which have been used throughout the oil spill, are sprayed by boats, aircraft and workers on the shore. Chemical dispersants pull apart oil particles suspended in water, reducing the oil slick to droplets that can be degraded by naturally occurring bacteria.
The major benefit of this technique is that the dispersants can be applied over a large area from specially-fit airplanes or helicopters. When the chemicals are applied, dispersed oil is significantly less toxic.

Controlled Burns
Controlled burns have been conducted throughout the Gulf oil spill. A fireproof boom corrals leaked oil into smaller, more dense pockets that can be ignited remotely from the air and burned off. The process of burning removes large portions of oil from the water's surface, keeping it away from the shoreline.

Booms and Skimmers
Another technique is using booms and skimmers to remove oil from the water's surface. Booms are used to collect oil in concentrated areas, while skimmers separate the crude from the water.

  Sorbent Materials
 Sorbent materials are possibly the most talked-about alternative to traditional oil recovery efforts But according to the EPA, they are most often used in small spills or to remove the final traces of a large spill. Sorbent materials absorb oil in varying degrees, with some materials swelling more than 50 percent. Although various sorbent materials have been proposed, government and BP officials have so far only officially "considered" these materials for use in cleaning the spill.

  

Two solutions that are opposites:

Nuclear OptionAs the crisis in the Gulf has escalated, suggestions for ways to cap the leak have become more radical. Using a nuclear blast to seal the well is one such suggestion. The idea is not unheard of. The Soviet Union used the extreme heat of nuclear explosions to seal gas wells with melted rock on at least five occasions between 1966 and 1981.

Natural Recovery
In some areas, the environmental impact of cleaning up a spill could potentially outweigh the benefits of cleaning certain areas, especially if these places are highly dense with vegetation or relatively remote. Wave action, naturally occurring microorganisms, sunlight and natural water dispersion all contribute to break down oil leaked into the ocean.