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Estimation of Retained Crude Oil Associated with Crushed Salt and Salt Cores in the Presence of Near-Saturated Brine
This paper describes three experiments whose purpose is to determine the amount of retained oil on massive salt surfaces and in crushed salt in the presence of water and brine. These experiments have application to the decommissioning process for the Weeks Island mine. In the first experiment, oil-coated salt cores were immersed in either fresh water or in 85% brine. In the case of both fluids, the oil was completely removed from the cores within several hours. In the second experiment, oil-coated salt pieces were suspended in air and the oil was allowed to drain. The weight of retained oil clinging to the salt was determined. This experiment was used to estimate the total amount of oil clinging to the roofs of the mine. The total amount of oil clinging to the roofs of the mine is estimated to be between 240 and 400 m3 (1500 and 2500 BBL). In the third experiment, a pan of oil-soaked crushed salt was immersed in 85% brine, and oil removal from the salt was monitored as a function of time. At the start of the experiment, prior to immersion, 16% of the bulk volume of the crushed salt was determined to be interstitial oil. After the pan of crushed salt was immersed in 85% brine, 80% of the oil, which had been in the interstitial spaces of the crushed salt, immediately floated to the surface of the brine. This oil was not bound and was immediately released. During the next 380 hours, oil continued to separate from the salt and the rate of transfer was governed by a mass-transfer rate limitation.