Kuwaiti oil fires - Source estimates and plume characterization

Tahir Husain

doi:10.1016/1352-2310(94)90357-3

Kuwaiti oil fires - Source estimates and plume characterization

Tahir Husain^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

21 Scopus citations

Abstract

Just before the conclusion of the Gulf War, more than 800 wells detonated with explosives were ignited by the Iraqi forces, out of which more than 650 wells burned with flames for several months and the remainder gushed oil forming lakes and pools. It is estimated that more than one billion barrels of crude oil was lost which amounts to about 1.5 2, of the oil reserve in Kuwait. The burning wells in Kuwait produced large amounts of gases such as sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), carbon dioxide (CO₂), and the oxides of nitrogen (NO₃) as well as particulates containing partially burned hydrocarbons and metals, all of which were potential for affecting human health and vegetation. In this paper, information on the statistics of the Kuwaiti oil wells fires, the data on Kuwaiti crude oil properties and the estimates on flow rates, emission of gaseous pollutants and particulates are presented. The remote sensing technique used at an early stage at the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM RI) in identifying the distribution of burning wells in different fields is also highlighted in the paper. The paper also summarizes the smoke plume information and characterization.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	2149-2158
Number of pages	10
Journal	Atmospheric Environment
Volume	28
Issue number	13
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/1352-2310(94)90357-3
State	Published - Jul 1994

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
(NCAR) sponsored by the National Science Foun-

Funding Information:
.i‘.~,~~~,~/l,d!/c,,~c,~r* The author \\ishes to acknowledge the hupport of the Mcrcorotog! and Environmental Protection AdminIstration (MEPA) for this \\ork under KFUPM Project No 24137.

Funding Information:
_3. University of Washington sponsored by the Na-tional Science Foundation (16 May-15 June 1991);

Keywords

Crude oil
Kuwaiti oil fires
emission inventory
remote sensing
smoke plume
source estimates

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Environmental Science
Atmospheric Science

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1016/1352-2310(94)90357-3

Cite this

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title = "Kuwaiti oil fires - Source estimates and plume characterization",

abstract = "Just before the conclusion of the Gulf War, more than 800 wells detonated with explosives were ignited by the Iraqi forces, out of which more than 650 wells burned with flames for several months and the remainder gushed oil forming lakes and pools. It is estimated that more than one billion barrels of crude oil was lost which amounts to about 1.5 2, of the oil reserve in Kuwait. The burning wells in Kuwait produced large amounts of gases such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), and the oxides of nitrogen (NO3) as well as particulates containing partially burned hydrocarbons and metals, all of which were potential for affecting human health and vegetation. In this paper, information on the statistics of the Kuwaiti oil wells fires, the data on Kuwaiti crude oil properties and the estimates on flow rates, emission of gaseous pollutants and particulates are presented. The remote sensing technique used at an early stage at the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM RI) in identifying the distribution of burning wells in different fields is also highlighted in the paper. The paper also summarizes the smoke plume information and characterization.",

keywords = "Crude oil, Kuwaiti oil fires, emission inventory, remote sensing, smoke plume, source estimates",

author = "Tahir Husain",

note = "Funding Information: (NCAR) sponsored by the National Science Foun- Funding Information: .i{\textquoteleft}.\textasciitilde{},\textasciitilde{}\textasciitilde{}\textasciitilde{},\textasciitilde{}/l,d!/c,,\textasciitilde{}c,\textasciitilde{}r* The author \textbackslash{}\textbackslash{}ishes to acknowledge the hupport of the Mcrcorotog! and Environmental Protection AdminIstration (MEPA) for this \textbackslash{}\textbackslash{}ork under KFUPM Project No 24137. Funding Information: \_3. University of Washington sponsored by the Na-tional Science Foundation (16 May-15 June 1991);",

year = "1994",

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PY - 1994/7

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N2 - Just before the conclusion of the Gulf War, more than 800 wells detonated with explosives were ignited by the Iraqi forces, out of which more than 650 wells burned with flames for several months and the remainder gushed oil forming lakes and pools. It is estimated that more than one billion barrels of crude oil was lost which amounts to about 1.5 2, of the oil reserve in Kuwait. The burning wells in Kuwait produced large amounts of gases such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), and the oxides of nitrogen (NO3) as well as particulates containing partially burned hydrocarbons and metals, all of which were potential for affecting human health and vegetation. In this paper, information on the statistics of the Kuwaiti oil wells fires, the data on Kuwaiti crude oil properties and the estimates on flow rates, emission of gaseous pollutants and particulates are presented. The remote sensing technique used at an early stage at the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM RI) in identifying the distribution of burning wells in different fields is also highlighted in the paper. The paper also summarizes the smoke plume information and characterization.

AB - Just before the conclusion of the Gulf War, more than 800 wells detonated with explosives were ignited by the Iraqi forces, out of which more than 650 wells burned with flames for several months and the remainder gushed oil forming lakes and pools. It is estimated that more than one billion barrels of crude oil was lost which amounts to about 1.5 2, of the oil reserve in Kuwait. The burning wells in Kuwait produced large amounts of gases such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), and the oxides of nitrogen (NO3) as well as particulates containing partially burned hydrocarbons and metals, all of which were potential for affecting human health and vegetation. In this paper, information on the statistics of the Kuwaiti oil wells fires, the data on Kuwaiti crude oil properties and the estimates on flow rates, emission of gaseous pollutants and particulates are presented. The remote sensing technique used at an early stage at the Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM RI) in identifying the distribution of burning wells in different fields is also highlighted in the paper. The paper also summarizes the smoke plume information and characterization.

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KW - smoke plume

KW - source estimates

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ER -

Kuwaiti oil fires - Source estimates and plume characterization

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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