Intercomparison of Oil Spill Prediction Models for Accidental Blowout Scenarios with and without Subsea Chemical Dispersant Injection
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-15-2015
Keywords
Subsea blowout, Droplet size distribution, Chemical dispersant, Model prediction, Multiphase plume, Lagrangian particle tracking
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.05.039
Abstract
We compare oil spill model predictions for a prototype subsea blowout with and without subsea injection of chemical dispersants in deep and shallow water, for high and low gas-oil ratio, and in weak to strong crossflows. Model results are compared for initial oil droplet size distribution, the nearfield plume, and the farfield Lagrangian particle tracking stage of hydrocarbon transport. For the conditions tested (a blowout with oil flow rate of 20,000 bbl/d, about 1/3 of the Deepwater Horizon), the models predict the volume median droplet diameter at the source to range from 0.3 to 6mm without dispersant and 0.01 to 0.8 mm with dispersant. This reduced droplet size owing to reduced interfacial tension results in a one to two order of magnitude increase in the downstream displacement of the initial oil surfacing zone and may lead to a significant fraction of the spilled oil not reaching the sea surface.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Marine Pollution Bulletin, v. 96, issues 1–2, p. 110-126
Scholar Commons Citation
Socolofsky, Scott A.; Adams, E. Eric; Boufadel, Michel C.; Aman, Zachary M.; Johansen, Øistein; Konkel, Wolfgang J.; Lindo, David; Madsen, Mads N.; North, Elizabeth W.; Paris, Claire B.; Rasmussen, Dorte; Reed, Mark; Rønningen, Petter; Sim, Lawrence H.; Uhrenholdt, Thomas; Anderson, Karl G.; Cooper, Cortis; and Nedwed, Tim J., "Intercomparison of Oil Spill Prediction Models for Accidental Blowout Scenarios with and without Subsea Chemical Dispersant Injection" (2015). C-IMAGE Publications. 127.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cimage_pubs/127
