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Tag: oil spill

Cleaning up oil in Arava

Cleaning up oil in Arava

The Tran-Israel oil pipeline spill near the Evrona Nature Reserve in the Arava Desert has harmed flora and fauna. (photo by Menachem Zalutzki via Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection)

On Dec. 3, 2014, a fractured pipe created the biggest oil spill in Israel’s history, releasing some five million litres of crude oil far into the Arava Desert. In the days that followed, experts from around the world were contacted to clean it up, including from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
photo - Hebrew University’s Dr. Yoel Sasson (pictured here) and his colleague Dr. Uri Stoin have developed a technology that can treat waste caused by any organic compound, including oil
Hebrew University’s Dr. Yoel Sasson (pictured here) and his colleague Dr. Uri Stoin have developed a technology that can treat waste caused by any organic compound, including oil. (photo from Yoel Sasson)

Dr. Yoel Sasson, a professor at Hebrew University’s Casali Institute of Applied Chemistry, specializes in environmental catalysis, and he and student Dr. Uri Stoin have developed a soil decontamination process that can treat waste caused by any organic compound, including oil.

According to Sasson, spills are common in countries where oil is being moved by pipes and, considering how old the pipe is in Israel, it was just a matter of time that such a leak would occur, he said.

Exacerbating the situation was that it took hours for the break to even be detected. “It’s horrible, because the oil is simply killing everything,” said Sasson. “All the farmland, the flora and fauna … nothing is left alive once the oil is there.”

The Ministry of the Environment is now in charge of cleaning up the spill and they will have to select the contractor to do the job. According to Sasson, there are several companies that have placed bids, one of which is Man Oil Group, the Swiss company licensed to commercialize this technology developed at HU.

A superoxide, the technology is a variation of an oxygen molecule. “Unlike the oxygen molecule, which is relatively inert, superoxide is a very aggressive, free agent,” explained Sasson. “And it actually oxidizes every organic material.”

It works by breaking down the organic (carbon-based) matter into water and CO2, and the organic material very rapidly oxidizes, he explained. “Normally, within 10 minutes, oil simply disappears … the soil re-mineralizes,” he said.

“As the oil is killing everything, when you apply the agent, you do not revive the plants, but you take the soil back to its virgin condition. And then, with time, nature will come back. We estimate six to 12 months, [then] it comes 100 percent back to life.”

The CO2 released in the process can also be neutralized and turned into sodium carbonate, which is soluble with water. With rain, it will be washed away.

Typically, technologies of this kind are termed as either “biological” or “chemical.”

Biological means bacteria is applied (i.e. eating or digesting the oil), a technique that has been used for many years. While this does work, it has some drawbacks. “It’s very slow,” said Sasson. “It would take a half a year to a year to start to see something developing. And it requires excavating the soil, digging it out, so the bacteria will have some air. They are aerobic material.

“Our method is chemical,” he continued, “which means it’s fast, a matter of minutes, actually.”

Sasson estimated that the oil did not seep deeply into the Arava soil, approximately 10 or 20 centimetres maximum. Regardless, he said, the agent is not limited to any particular depth. It can be drilled into the soil and the whole treatment can take place underground.

photo - A cormorant that fell victim to the oil spill
A cormorant that fell victim to the oil spill. (photo by Menachem Zalutzki via Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection)

Man Oil Group has been cleaning up oil spills with superoxide in Siberia, Africa and in the Gulf States, and is now looking at the soil in the Arava. The areas that it cleaned in Siberia were larger than that of the Arava spill, and the company has also conducted a successful test cleaning a stretch of a Swiss railway track. The track base, which is comprised of limestone, was restored to its white state, eliminating years of oil drips that were becoming an environmental problem, killing everything around it. Man Oil also conducted a test on the Arava spill site, with positive results.

According to Sasson, oil-caused damage is a worldwide problem that is very serious. But he is focused on cleaning up other contaminated areas as well, one of which is the result of military industries that have left organic pollution underground in Jerusalem.

“This particular case involves mainly those from a group of materials called ‘organic chlorine compounds,’” said Sasson. “These types of compounds, nature doesn’t recognize, and they are polluting underground water. It’s really a disaster.

“When we started, we worked on the destruction of these materials. This was very successful. But, we noticed it takes a lot of time with the authorities to get permission. It takes many years to start such a cleanup. Meanwhile, the oil cleanup is faster and is needed in many more places.”

Another application focus for Sasson is sewage sludge, a by-product of bacteria used to digest sewage waste being disposed of into the environment, causing contamination.

“You feed bacteria your waste,” said Sasson. “They convert the waste into CO2 and water again but, at the same time, they are growing. And, normally, for one kilogram of waste, you will build up a weight of about 450 grams of bacteria (about 50 percent) and then you create a new waste. So, instead of having one kilogram of waste, now you have half a kilogram. But you’re still stuck with it, because there’s nothing to do with the bacteria. So, what we are trying to do is really decompose this waste using our agent. So far, initial experiments show it is working but, of course, we have to substantiate it and develop it into larger scale.”

At press time, Sasson was still waiting to hear from the Ministry of the Environment if the process they developed will be chosen to clean up the Arava spill.

 ***

The Evrona Nature Reserve rehabilitation team began its work on Jan. 12, 2015, with a meeting headed by Deputy Environmental Protection Minister Ofir Akunis. Air quality tests found that there has been a 90 percent reduction of pollution in Evrona, one of the sites most harmed by the December 2014 oil spill in Israel’s southern Arava region. Some 30 companies are now vying to be selected to decontaminate the soil that was contaminated by the oil spill. The reserve, noted Akunis, will open once there is no fear that the health of visitors could be affected. The hope is that this will be in the near future.

– Israel Ministry of Environmental Protection (sviva.gov.il)

Format ImagePosted on February 13, 2015February 12, 2015Author Rebeca KuropatwaCategories IsraelTags Arava, Casali Institute, Evrona, Hebrew University, oil spill, superoxide, Yoel Sasson
Oil spill heightens urgency

Oil spill heightens urgency

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the new Regional Collaboration Centre for Research and Development and Renewable Energy near Eilat. (photo from Jewish National Fund via jns.org)

The worst oil spill in Israel’s history was the unplanned backdrop for a recent international conference on green energy held in Eilat, the country’s southernmost city. A busy port and popular resort city located at the northern tip of the Red Sea, Eilat is at the epicentre of the Jewish state’s renewable energy industry.

The Eilat-Eilot Green Energy Sixth International Conference and Exhibition, held Dec. 7-9, was the culmination of six events that comprised Israel Energy Week and offered participants from around the globe a concentrated encounter with the emerging world of alternative energy in Israel. The conference focused on challenges facing the renewable energy industry, including storage and supply of electricity, development of methods to manage electricity flow and financing to advance projects.

It also focused on the key role renewable energy plays in the southern Arava, a stretch of Negev Desert from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba in which Eilat and the Hevel Eilot Regional Council are located. This arid, sun-drenched area is Israel’s main locale for sustainable development and functions as an international showcase for Israeli innovation in the field of green energy.

“Renewable energy, with an emphasis on solar, is a major focus of our municipal activity and plays a key role in the region as a whole,” Meir Yitzhak Halevi, the mayor of Eilat, told conference attendees. “The city of Eilat and the Hevel Eilot Regional Council, which together account for 13 percent of Israel’s land area but less than one percent of the country’s population, have recognized the potential offered by the sunlight and open space that exist here in such abundance, and are concentrating on renewable energy as a catalyst for regional growth.”

According to Udi Gat, head of the Hevel Eilot Regional Council, the area has already reached nearly 60 percent daytime energy independence and in eight months will generate nearly 100 percent of the energy consumed each day in the southern Arava. By 2020, the municipality and regional council anticipate that the area will be completely energy-independent and free of fossil fuel and carbon emissions.

“We want to generate more electricity, even beyond the needs of Eilat and the regional council. We want to help the country produce electricity from an inexpensive source – the sun – and to be Israel’s electricity storehouse or ‘bank,’” Gat said.

The importance of achieving energy independence was conveyed to the conference in a dramatic way when, four days prior to the start of the gathering, an oil pipeline ruptured during maintenance work at a construction site about 12 miles north of Eilat. Five million litres of crude oil spilled out and fouled an estimated 250 acres of scenic desert, including a nature reserve. Delicate coral reefs beyond the nearby shoreline were also threatened.

Read more at jns.org.

Format ImagePosted on January 9, 2015January 8, 2015Author June Glazer JNS.ORGCategories IsraelTags Eilat, Eilot, environment, green energy, Israel, oil spill
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