Raining oil in Louisiana? Not likely.

[Quixote1818]

Snip>

In short, oil and water don't mix, explains Christopher Marshall, a former research chemist with Amoco Oil and now director of an institute looking for ways to develop biofuel replacements for oil and gasoline at the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Ill.

The story begins with the oil itself, he says. Oil consists of four broad categories of hydrocarbons: paraffins, napthenes, aromatics, and asphaltenes. The relative amount of each depends on the age of the oil deposit. Older oil is heavy on the heavy hydrocarbons, such as asphaltenes -- the basic material for patching potholes, Dr. Marshall says. Younger oil, such as the Gulf reservoir BP was trying to exploit, is dominated by the other, lighter hydrocabons.

When the leaking oil reaches the surface, the lightest hydrocarbons in the blend evaporate, giving off gases such as methane, ethane, and propane. This evaporation turns the remainder of the oil into a heavier globs that become the tar balls washing on to beaches or oil that loses its buoyancy compared with water and sinks into the water column.

The evaporating hydrocarbons can contribute pollution problems of their own, combining with ozone to form smog, for instance. But they don't recombine to form oil that can subsequently return as a component of rain drops.

More: http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0625/Raining-oil-in-Louisiana-Not-likely.

[bluestateguy]

1. No, it "only" washes up on the shore

nt

[sfwriter]

2. Disspersants...

My understanding is that these chemicals allow the oil to bond to water.

[Quixote1818]

3. According to this it's just the opposit

Snip> Corexit is an effective dispersant that works by bonding to the oil molecules and separating them from water molecules – thus breaking up the oil.

http://www.nalco.com/news-and-events/4285.htm

[sfwriter]

6. It is an emulsifier, allowing teh oil to blend with water.

If it separated them, then the oil would rise to the surface faster.

[marmar]

4. So it'll rain toxic dispersants instead.....Joy !!!

nt

[Hugin]

5. Not to mention the Acid Rain generated by the burning of raw crude and other gasses.

Need I look up a link?

:(