Date of Award
2020
Document Type
Honors Thesis (Colby Access Only)
Department
Colby College. Chemistry Dept.
Advisor(s)
Greg Drozd
Abstract
Oil spills have ramifications for continental, aquatic, and atmospheric health. Oil can pollute the shoreline, age in the open ocean, and oxidized oil emissions can participate in aerosol chemistry. The effective mass transfer coefficient was determined for three common hydrocarbons of crude oil and the relative bulk level oxidation of OHMSETT oil was quantified. When the pH of a solution of glyoxal and ammonium sulfate was unadjusted, an organic matrix had a variable effect on the average 24-hr effective rate constant of imidazole derivative formation and the average 24-hr absorbance of imidazole derivatives. When the pH was adjusted to about 3.8, the average 24-hr effective rate constant of imidazole derivative formation increased, the average 24-hr absorbance of imidazole derivatives decreased, and the average 24-hr change in pH varied depending on the organic matrix. The imidazole derivatives formed may have varied based on the solution composition and the presence of an organic matrix enhanced the reaction rate.
Keywords
Oil spill, atmospheric processing, aldehyde chemistry, brown carbon species, oil spill modeling
Recommended Citation
Karp, Hannah Q., "Environmental Impacts of Oil Spills: Weathering, Emissions, and Atmospheric Processing of Crude Oil" (2020). Honors Theses. Paper 1003.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/1003