Wheres the Oil? Much has Evaporated, Underwater

[Geee]

TownHall:


Where's the oil? Much has evaporated, underwater
By CAIN BURDEAU


For a spill now nearly half the size of Exxon Valdez, it's hard to pin down where the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster has gone.

Although the government has been slow to say what's happened to it, a picture can be drawn from a publicly available model called the Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills.

The model shows that about 35 percent of a hypothetical 4.8 million gallon spill of light Louisiana crude oil released in conditions similar to those found in the Gulf now would evaporate.

It also shows that between 50 percent and 60 percent of the oil would remain in or on the water and the rest would be dispersed in the ocean.

Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University chemist analyzing the spill, says he thinks most of the oil is floating within 1 foot of the surface.

[Valin]

TownHall:

 

 

Where's the oil? Much has evaporated, underwater

By CAIN BURDEAU

 

 

 

CAIN BURDEAU and AP, your one stop source for all things scientific

 

Sci-Tech Encyclopedia:

Evaporation

 

The process by which a liquid is converted into a vapor. In the liquid phase, the substance is held together by intermolecular forces. As the temperature is raised, the molecules move more vigorously, and in increasingly high proportion have sufficient energy to escape from their neighbors. Evaporation is therefore slow at low temperatures but faster at higher temperatures. In an open vessel, the molecules escape from the vicinity of the liquid, and there is a net migration from the liquid to the atmosphere. In a closed vessel, net evaporation continues until the number of molecules in the vapor has risen to the stage at which the rate of return from the vapor to the liquid is equal to the rate of evaporation. At this stage there is a dynamic equilibrium between the liquid and its vapor, with evaporation and its reverse, condensation, occurring at the same rate. The pressure of the vapor in the closed vessel is called the vapor pressure of the substance; its value depends on the temperature. Boiling occurs in an open vessel (but not in a closed vessel) when the vapor pressure is equal to the ambient pressure. See also Boiling point; Vapor pressure.

 

Evaporation is an endothermic (heat-absorbing) process because molecules must be supplied with energy to overcome the intermolecular forces. The enthalpy of vaporization, ΔvapH (formerly, the latent heat of vaporization) is the heat required at constant pressure per mole of substance for vaporization. The entropy of vaporization, ΔvapS, at the boiling point, Tb, is equal to ΔvapH/Tb. According to Trouton's rule, for many liquids the entropy of vaporization is close to 85 J/K · mol. This value reflects the similar change in disorder that occurs when a liquid is converted into a gas. However, certain liquids (water and mercury among them) are more structured than others, and have a bigger entropy of vaporization than Trouton's rule suggests. See also Enthalpy; Entropy.

 

Volatile liquids evaporate more rapidly than others at the same temperature. Such liquids have relatively weak intermolecular forces. In general, the rate of evaporation depends on the strengths of the intermolecular forces and the rate at which heat is supplied to the liquid. See also Intermolecular forces; Liquid.

[Pepper]

Rush just now.

Maybe as much as a third has evaporated. Wow.

 

 

The White House and their bed bug buddies the Media are trying to manipulate this into a crisis of apocalyptic proportions. It's not happening yet.

[Argyle58]

Rush just now.

Maybe as much as a third has evaporated. Wow.

 

 

The White House and their bed bug buddies the Media are trying to manipulate this into a crisis of apocalyptic proportions. It's not happening yet.

 

Oh, the same "bed bug buddies" that will let anyone protesting Arizona's immigration law have air time, but refuse to air a single one of the 65% of the populace that supports it?

 

Worked in one case, might work for the other.

[Pepper]

It's how they co op the language so quickly, Argyle58!

 

If you are against criminal behavior you are "anti-immigration" or anti-illegal immigration.

 

There is no such thing as illegal immigration, IMHO. You are either here legally via the immigration processor you snuck your way across the border.

 

The Arizona law is better seen as Anti-Criminal and who could be agains that?

 

Rush just now.

Maybe as much as a third has evaporated. Wow.

 

 

The White House and their bed bug buddies the Media are trying to manipulate this into a crisis of apocalyptic proportions. It's not happening yet.

 

Oh, the same "bed bug buddies" that will let anyone protesting Arizona's immigration law have air time, but refuse to air a single one of the 65% of the populace that supports it?

 

Worked in one case, might work for the other.