Types of Oil and Their Properties
Type 4: Heavy Oils (Heavy Crude Oils, No. 6 Fuel Oil, Bunker C)
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| Fig.1Heavy Oil UCSB Geog Dept. (2001) |
A general summary of the properties and impacts of heavy oils (taken from NOAA, 2001):
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Heavy oils have very little/or no evaporation or dissolution.
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The intertidal area will be severely affected with heavy contamination of species and habitats.
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Severe impacts to birds and marine mammals due to oiling of feathers and fur, and ingestion.
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Long-term contamination of sediments is possible.
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Heavy oils weather very slowly.
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Shoreline clean up is difficult under all conditions.
| Field-Determined Oil Type | Designation | Representative Oils | Diagnostic Properties | Physical / Chemical Properties | |||||
| D | Nonfluid oils (at ambent temperature). | Residual and heavy crude oils (all types). | Tarry or waxy lumps. | Nonspreading, cannot be recovered from water surfaces using most conventional cleanup equipment, cannot be pumped without pre-heating or slurrying, initially relatively non-toxic, may melt and flow when stranded in sun. | |||||
| Tab.1Type 4 - Heavy Oils (Breuel, 1981) | |||||||||
