A decision support system to assist in selecting a chemical oil spill dispersant

The objective of this work was to develop a decision support system to assist in selecting an oil spill dispersant for a particular oil spill on land or open water, and to assist in providing contingency planning information for future spills. The system will assist an on-scene coordinator by displaying information (effectiveness, toxicity, application, manufacturers representative, and handling) for seventeen products. The system allows the user to select a specific dispersant, post-spill cleaner, or a herder by name, or to respond to a series of questions about the spill and then have the system select a group of dispersants, that best fits the conditions. This paper also list additions needed with the available data that enable the expert system to select a single dispersant for a particular spill.