Oily liquid waste emergency management for offshore oil spill response through a factorial inventory-theory-based...

Effective management of oily waste generated during offshore spill responses is a complex task. In this research, a factorial inventory-theory-based mixed-integer optimization (FIMO) model was developed for oily liquid waste management through factorial analysis and optimization of facility locations, waste flows, batch sizes, and order cycles to minimize costs. A hypothetical case study in Newfoundland, Canada, was used to demonstrate the model's applicability. It was revealed that pre-treatment cost, refining cost, incineration cost, waste collection time, and waste disposal time had significant positive effects on system costs, while the water ratio exhibited a negative effect. Among them, extending response time contributed 71 % to the system cost increase, and all interactions with the water ratio were negative. Further sensitivity analysis of time-related factors and water ratio identified their impacts on optimal system costs, facility selections, and waste flow allocations. Results suggested that managing oily liquid waste should prioritize reducing time delays and designing facilities to handle higher water ratios to offset rising treatment costs. This research provided a useful approach to achieve optimized oily liquid waste management solutions that adapt to varying conditions, ultimately enhancing the efficiency of offshore spill response operations.