The Technical University of Hamburg at Harburg (TUHH), Germany hosted the 1st Hamburg Symposium on Deep-Sea Oil Spills on Wednesday 4 September 2013. The conference brought together North American and European expertise to improve quick and effective response to future oil spills and minimise their environmental impact.

TUHH is a member of the Centre for Integrated Modelling and Analysis of the Gulf Ecosystem (C-IMAGE) research consortium led by Steven Murawski with the University of South Florida. Murawski gave an overview of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative to 45 attendees who represented five countries, ten European agencies, three GoMRI-funded consortia, and private technology/instrument manufacturers.

During the symposium, researchers presented work on multiphase flows (mixtures of oil and gas, similar to real-world conditions) under deep sea conditions. They discussed equipment and measurement techniques for high-pressure applications. Participants gained new insights into the biodegradation processes of oil under deep sea conditions and the role of dispersants and clay minerals in the formation and sedimentation of oiled marine snow aggregates.

TUHH houses a high pressure facility where closed chambers can be pressurised up to 550 times the atmospheric pressure at sea level and cooled to just above the freezing point of sea water for these experiments.  The Deepwater Horizon accident occurred at 150 times atmospheric pressure and about 4°C and many of the ongoing experiments simulate these conditions.

(Spill-international, Edited by Topco)