Prediction of the rate of oil removal from seawater by evaporation and dissolution

A mathematical model is presented to predict the rates of vaporization and dissolution for an oil spill floating on the sea surface. Laboratory experiments were conducted on two oil samples, a crude oil from Ahwaz oil fields in Iran and a home kerosene produced at Tehran Refinary. Effects of temperature and salt concentration on the rate of oil disappearance were studied and the rates of oil disappearance by evaporation and dissolution were determined. It was found that the rate of dissolution under normal sea surface conditions is ~ 0.1 % of the rate of evaporation.