Numerous laboratory test methods have been developed to evaluate the relative effectiveness of dispersants. The recent focus on the performance of these different test methods during an oil spill response highlights the need for a better understanding of their relevance to the real world.  Currently six basic test methods are in use at various oil spill research laboratories in Europe and North America. The test methods use various containers and a wide range of approaches to generating mixing energy. It is possible to vary the energy levels in these tests, as well as the dispersant-to-oil ratio (DOR), settling time, and other variables.  Results of these tests are useful for comparing dispersants on a relative basis, but they are generally not representative of performance at sea. This paper serves to provide a comparison of the full suite of current lab-based dispersant effectiveness tests for a number of different crude oils.

Comparison of laboratory and meso-scale effectiveness testing of oil spill response dispersants

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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