Surfactant Enhanced Wave Scouring For Covert Obstacle Removal

Defensive surf zone emplacements can be undercut by the use of surf actants without eco-damage. Surfactants can decrease the sur- face tension of the sand/water interface to increase the scouring action of wave turbulence around obstructions. Surfactants have been used in oil-well drilling mud for decades to mobilize sand and rock chips for removal as a semi-fluid. This research proposes to use surfactants to enhance the ero- sion action of surf hydrodynamics especially in the turbulence around obstacles. By washing away the beach floor, the founda- tions of defensive obstacles are scoured away and the landing crash zone is brought to the shoreline. Surfactants will be selected that are more dense than seawater and are at their cloud point. When at their cloud point, dilution is forestalled and chemical activity optimized. Phase I will identify candidate surfactants, assess formulation components performance and toxicity, derive a deployment concept, lab demonstrate the surfactant concept, and assess the feasibili- ty of fleet deployment. Phase II will prepare surfactant formula- tions, test formulations, demonstrate the selected formulation delivery system on a beach, and assess the ecological effects.