Abstract PAPER199
Evaporation is the most important behavior aspect of oil weathering. Evaporation typically accounts for as much as 40% loss in two days after a spill. Other behavior aspects never account for more than about 5% in two days after a spill. The rate at which an oil evaporates depends primarily on the oil's composition. Many components of heavier oils will not evaporate at all, even over long periods of time and at high temperatures. This differential weathering renders the evaporation of oil unique and different from pure liquids such as water.
Studies have shown that simple prediction methods are applicable to oil evaporation. Oil and petroleum products evaporate in a slightly different manner than water and the process is not dependent on wind speed and surface area. In fact accurate models have been developed which only use the temperature, time and oil type. The equation parameters can be related to commonly-available distillation data for the oil.