Title:

Acoustic Sensor for Measuring Slick Thickness During Oil Spill Response

By knowing the thickness of floating oil, responders can determine the volume of oil in water and decide when to deploy skimmers for cleanup. The objective of this project is to test an acoustic sensor suite in a variety of tanks that simulate environmental conditions to evaluate their potential as an aid in oil spill response. Four Olympus Immersion transducers were tested in conjunction with a Peak NDT Micropulse LT2 to determine a lower detection limit (LDL) in a control tank. The 10 MHz sensor detected oil slicks at 200 microns (µm), showing promise as an option to measure in situ slick thickness. The 5, 3.5, and 2.25 MHz sensors detected oil slicks larger than 1000 µm, indicating they may be viable options for oil detection but not for quantifying slicks typically found on the water’s surface. After determining the LDL of the suite, the sensors were tested in a flume tank to simulate wave-like conditions and an ice tank to test the ability of the sensors to detect thickness in Arctic Conditions. This project continues ongoing projects at the Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) based in Gregg Hall at the University of New Hampshire.

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