Microscale interaction of oil with sea ice for detection and environmental risk management in sustainable operations (MOSIDEO)

During the first year, PostDoc and PhD student started to develop a climate cell for oil-in-ice imaging at synchrotron light sources. First measurements have been performed at ESRF, SLS, and DESY and image analysis is ongoing. Samples were prepared and behavior of oil in ice had been studied at Norut Narvik. A modeling framework for oil-in-ice impact analysis in the Barents Sea has been developed with the oil fate component currently being refined. Modeling work on radar detection has started. During year two, a series of oil-in-ice experiments has been performed on Svalbard as part of the PhD project. This effort has been documented extensively on social media, in the news and in institute articles. Preparations have begun for oil-in-ice experiments at the HSVA ice thank in Hamburg next year, including tests of procedures, materials and equipment, and coordination with other participating projects. The cooling stage developed for micro-tomographic imaging is currently being used at the Norwegian Center for X-ray diffraction. Beyond imaging of oil in ice it provides the possibility for investigations of snow, permafrost, and materials at low temperatures. In year three, a three-week oil-in-ice experiment had been performed at the Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) in collaboration with RCN SFI CIRFA. Oil-in-ice behavior and detection were investigated in ice grown under either calm or windy conditions. 54 crude oil lenses had been injected beneath cold ice and the development of the pore space, oil migration, and detectability of oil with surface remote sensing techniques were investigated during simulated spring-time warming. Significantly different oil behavior was found between the ice types. A unique opportunity is opened to establish the underlying cause since the ice was imaged with high-resolution computed tomographic methods. The findings motivate the revision of general assumptions on oil-in-ice behavior. Two targeted workshops/conference sessions were conducted to strengthen the international network in the area of microstructural investigations. The fourth and fifth years were marked by sample processing and data analysis. Data were used by two Ph.D. students in addition to two MOSIDEO Ph.D. students. Also, funding had been secured to expand the use of the cooling stage developed in year two to other materials, and X-ray tomography methodologies developed under MOSIDEO were transferred to experiment design and analysis for the MOSAiC transpolar drift expedition.

MOSIDEO has performed oil-in-ice experiments on Svalbard and in the Arctic Environmental Test Basin at HSVA, Hamburg. Two- and three-dimensional profiles of the distribution of oil in sea ice were analyzed. Oil-containing sea ice samples were imaged at synchrotron facilities and x-ray tomographs at NTNU. The potential of radar imaging of oil near the ice surface is subject of ongoing Ph.D. work. A legacy of MOSIDEO is the establishment of sea ice x-ray tomography work at NTNU: the MOSIDEO PostDoc remains employed at NTNU beyond the project period, establishing NTNU as one of only a few research centers that are able to perform cold-temperature x-ray tomography. Experiments in the HSVA ice tank became part of five Ph.D. projects illustrating that MOSIDEO has contributed significantly to education in the field of physical interactions between oil and sea ice. Published results will facilitate improvement of oil spill contingency and response planning when coupled with ice drift models.

Petroleum activity is currently Norway's largest industry, and further development in the Arctic is expected to bring new potential for local value creation and development. Sea ice presents a novel challenge to planning, development, and production in the area. License blocks nominated for the 23rd licence round lie in seasonally ice-covered areas. The petroleum industry on the Norwegian continental shelf aims to be a world leader in ensuring environmental soundness, calling for the interaction of oil with sea ice, its fate, transport, and detection to be understood. "Microscale interaction of oil with sea ice for detection and environmental risk management in sustainable operations" (MOSIDEO) is a research project aiming at understanding the fundamental science of oil behaviour in the sea ice pore space through experiments, observation, and modelling. Pore-scale understanding of the fate of oil in sea ice is limited due to challenges associated with investigating a material close to its melting point, and with immiscible oil-brine displacement processes in complex pore networks. MOSIDEO will develop methodology and equipment that overcomes these challenges. Intercomparisons with different tools will show potential and limits of alternative methods of pore scale investigations, and interpretation of radar signals in the context of oil distribution will be investigated. MOSIDEO will perform coordinated experiments and modelling at the both pore scale and effective medium scale to find formulations best suited to predict oil entrapment, migration and release in and from sea ice. Results will improve oil fate and dispersion models in sea ice-covered waters, and advance radar remote sensing techniques for oil detection in sea ice, supporting the decision process of stakeholders in risk assessment and spill response.