Chemical Weathering Patterns of Diluted Bitumen Spilled into Freshwater Limnocorrals

Abstract

Due to the sudden nature of oil spills, few controlled studies have documented how oil weathers immediately following accidental release into a natural lake environment. Here, we evaluated the weathering patterns of Cold Lake Winter Blend, a diluted bitumen (dilbit) product, by performing a series of controlled spills into limnocorrals installed in a freshwater lake in Northern Ontario, Canada. Using a regression-based design, we added seven different dilbit volumes, ranging from 1.5 to 180 L, resulting in oil-to-water ratios between 1:71,000 (v/v) and 1:500 (v/v). We monitored changes in the composition of various petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs), including n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and oil biomarkers in dilbit over time, as it naturally weathered for 70 days. Depletion rate constants (k_D) of n-alkanes and PAHs ranged from 0.0009 to 0.41 d^-1 and 0.0008 to 0.38 d^-1, respectively. There was no significant relationship between k_D and spill volume, suggesting that spill size did not influence the depletion of petroleum hydrocarbons from the slick. Diagnostic ratios calculated from concentrations of n-alkanes, isoprenoids, and PAHs indicated that evaporation and photooxidation were major processes contributing to dilbit weathering, whereas dissolution and biodegradation were less important. These results demonstrate the usefulness of large scale field studies carried out under realistic environmental conditions to elucidate the role of different weathering processes following a dilbit spill.

Keywords: biodegradation; diluted bitumen; oil spill; oil weathering; petroleum hydrocarbons.