Modelling the behaviour of oil spills in natural waters

1993 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-219 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. K. Luk ◽  
H. F. Kuan
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Natural Waters ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Oil Composition ◽  
Weathering Processes ◽  
Transport And Mixing ◽  
Spilled Oil ◽  
Initial Results ◽  
Petroleum Oil

This paper is a state-of-the-art review of the formulations for the different processes responsible for the transport and mixing of petroleum oil spilled in natural waters. Processes accounting for the transfer and loss of the surface oil, such as initial spreading, evaporation, dissolution, emulsification, dispersion, photo-oxidation, and sedimentation, are included. Based on the findings, a dynamic mathematical model describing the fate of spilled oil was developed. To reflect field observations, the surface oil composition in the model is allowed to vary with time as a result of weathering. Initial results for model testing are presented. Key words: oil spill, mathematical model, fate model, weathering processes.

MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF PETROLEUM HYDROCARBON WEATHERING IN THE SUBARCTIC MARINE ENVIRONMENT1

1983 ◽  
Vol 1983 (1) ◽  
pp. 423-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
James R. Payne ◽  
Bruce E. Kirstein ◽  
G. Daniel McNabb ◽  
James L. Lambach ◽  
Celso de Oliveira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Crude Oil ◽  
Water Column ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Material Balance ◽  
Oil Composition ◽  
Outer Continental Shelf ◽  
Weathering Processes

ABSTRACT When crude oil or petroleum products are released to the marine environment, immediate alterations in chemical and physical properties occur as a result of a variety of weathering processes. A three-year oil weathering study of Prudhoe Bay crude oil has been completed under ambient subarctic conditions at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's lower Cook Inlet field laboratory in Kasitsna Bay, Alaska. Quantitative data from outdoor wave-tank and flow-through aquaria systems were collected on seasonal and time-series measurements of compositional changes in the oil and water column due to evaporation, dissolution, and water-in-oil emulsification, as well as alterations in rheological properties of the slick. These data are used for mathematical model development and verification of computer-predicted oil weathering behavior from a variety of spill scenarios. The oil-weathering mathematical models developed in this program are based on measured physical properties data, and they generate material balances for both specific compounds and pseudo-compounds (distillation cuts) in crude oil. These models are applicable to open-ocean oil spills, spills in estuaries and lagoons where the water column is finite, and spills on land. The oil weathering processes included in the mathematical model are evaporation, dispersion of oil into the water column, dissolution, water-in-oil emulsification (mousse formation), and oil slick spreading. In most cases, very good agreement is obtained between predicted and observed weathering behavior. The material balance and weathered-oil composition predictions generated as a function of time have been very useful in providing information for contingency planning, estimating potential damage assessments and preparing environmental impact reports for outer continental shelf drilling activities.

A REVIEW OF THE STATE-OF-THE-ART OF OIL SPILL FATE/BEHAVIOR MODELS

1983 ◽  
Vol 1983 (1) ◽  
pp. 313-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Huang
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Weathering Processes ◽  
Current State ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Behavior Models ◽  
Fate And Behavior ◽  
Spilled Oil

ABSTRACT The fate and behavior of spilled oil can be affected by nine physical, chemical, and biological processes: advection, spreading, evaporation, dissolution, emulsification, dispersion, auto-oxidation, biodegradation, and sinking/sedimentation. Currently, oil fate predictions and/or the assessment of environmental impact or risk of a spill are based mostly on oil spill models which simulate only the advective processes and some which include also the spreading processes. These models do not account for the weathering or the loss of the spilled oil that may occur immediately or soon after the spill, and thus may lead to unrealistic assessments or inaccurate predictions. Models with varying degrees of sophistication and with different approaches for the various weathering processes are being developed, some of them implemented in composite oil fate/behavior models that are constructed to provide more realistic or accurate predictions. To provide some understanding of the current state-of-the-art of these modeling technologies, this paper presents an overview and discussion of the available models for each of the nine oil fate/behavior governing processes.

Photocatalytic Effect of Fe(III) on Oxidation of Two-Carbon Substrates Related to Natural Waters

1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 1066-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Šárka Klementová ◽  
Dana M. Wagnerová
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Natural Waters ◽  
Substrate Oxidation ◽  
Quantum Yields ◽  
Ferric Ions ◽  
Photochemical Reduction ◽  
Photocatalytic Effect ◽  
Carbon Substrates ◽  
Glyoxalic Acid ◽  
The Common

The influence of ferric ions on photoinitiated reaction of dioxygen with two carbon organic acids, aldehydes and alcohols related to natural waters was demonstrated. Photocatalytic effect of ferric ions, i.e. photochemical reduction of Fe(III) as the catalyst generating step, has been found to be the common principal of these reactions. The overall quantum yields of the reactions are in the range from 0.3 to 1.2. A mathematical model designed for the mechanism of cyclic generation of catalyst in the singlet substrate oxidation by O2 was applied to the system glyoxalic acid + Fe(III); a fair agreement between the simulated and experimental kinetic curves was obtained. The experimental rate constant is 4.4 .10-4 s -1.

scholarly journals Visual Appearance of Oil on the Sea

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 97
Author(s):  
Merv Fingas
Keyword(s):  
Water Surface ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Discharge Rate ◽  
Physical Explanation ◽  
Visual Appearance ◽  
Oil In Water ◽  
Other Information ◽  
Surface Discharges ◽  
Oil Emulsions ◽  
Spilled Oil

The visual appearance of oil spills at sea is often used as an indicator of spilled oil properties, state and slick thickness. These appearances and the oil properties that are associated with them are reviewed in this paper. The appearance of oil spills is an estimator of thickness of thin oil slicks, thinner than a rainbow sheen (<3 µm). Rainbow sheens have a strong physical explanation. Thicker oil slicks (e.g., >3 µm) are not correlated with a given oil appearance. At one time, the appearance of surface discharges from ships was thought to be correlated with discharge rate and vessel speed; however, this approach is now known to be incorrect. Oil on the sea can sometimes form water-in-oil emulsions, dependent on the properties of the oil, and these are often reddish in color. These can be detected visually, providing useful information on the state of the oil. Oil-in-water emulsions can be seen as a coffee-colored cloud below the water surface. Other information gleaned from the oil appearance includes coverage and distribution on the surface.

scholarly journals OIL SPILL FORECASTING—WHERE IS IT GOING?1

1979 ◽  
Vol 1979 (1) ◽  
pp. 649-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan M. Lissauer ◽  
Donald L. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Incomplete Knowledge ◽  
Physical Mechanisms ◽  
Horizontal Transport ◽  
Vertical Dispersion ◽  
Forecasting System ◽  
Spilled Oil

ABSTRACT The methods used to forecast the movement of spilled oil have not changed significantly since the Argo Merchant spill. Little has been done to improve the deficiencies brought to light during this incident. Some of the deficiencies in the state-of-the-art are examined here, particularly those related to our incomplete knowledge of the physical mechanisms involved in oil spill movement. A basic framework for the development of an improved forecasting system is presented. It is based on the integration of a horizontal transport model, an evaporation model, and a vertical dispersion model.

scholarly journals Effect of long term natural weathering on oil composition: study of the 41-years-old Amoco Cadiz and 20-years-old Erika oil spills

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronan Jézéquel ◽  
Julien Guyomarch ◽  
Justine Receveur ◽  
Stéphane Le Floch
Keyword(s):  
Methylene Chloride ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Fuel Oil ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Oil Composition ◽  
Heavy Fuel Oil ◽  
Steering Mechanism ◽  
Weathered Oil ◽  
Specific Degradation

On 16 March 1978, the oil tanker the Amoco Cadiz, transporting 223,000 tons of crude oil and 4,000 tons of bunker fuel oil, suffered a failure of her steering mechanism and ran aground on Portsall Rocks, on the Breton coast. The entire cargo spilled out as the breakers split the vessel in two, progressively polluting 360 km of French shoreline from Brest to Saint Brieuc. This was the largest oil spill caused by a tanker grounding ever recorded in the world. The consequences of this accident were significant, and it caused the French Government to revise its oil response plan (the Polmar Plan), to acquire equipment stocks (Polmar stockpiles), to impose traffic lanes in the Channel and to create Cedre. On 12 December 1999, the tanker Erika broke up and sank off the coast of Brittany (France) leading to the spill of 20,000 tons of a heavy fuel oil. 400 km of the French Atlantic coastline were polluted. Because of the characteristics of the oil (a very heavy fuel oil with a high content of light cracking oil) and the severe weather conditions (a centennial storm with spring tides) when the oil came on shore, the Erika spill was one of the most severe accidental releases of oil along the French coastlines. All types of habitat were concerned, and pollution reached the supratidal zone affecting terrestrial vegetation and lichens. In 2019, respectively 41 years and 20 years after these major oil spills affecting the French shoreline, a sampling round was conducted at two sites recorded to present some residual traces of oil. Samples of weathered oil were collected, extracted with methylene chloride and then purified through an alumina-silica microcolumn. SARA fractionation and GC-MS analyses were performed in order to assess respectively the total degradation of the weathered oil (amount of saturates, aromatics and polar fraction) and the specific degradation of nalkanes from n-C9 to n-C40, biomarkers (such as terpanes, hopanes and steranes) and PAHs (parents and alkylated derivatives).

scholarly journals MODELING THE WIND INFLUENCE IN AN OIL SPILL ALONG THE SOUTHERN BRAZILIAN SHELF

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 100
Author(s):  
C. E. Stringari ◽  
W. C. Marques ◽  
L. F. Mello ◽  
R. T. Edit
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Computational Cost ◽  
Temperature Fields ◽  
Local Wind ◽  
Wind Influence ◽  
Oil Density ◽  
Environmental Agencies ◽  
Spilled Oil

Oil spills can generate different effects in different time scales on the marine ecosystem. The numerical modeling of this process is an important tool with low computational cost which provides a powerful appliance to environmental agencies regarding the risk management. In this way, the objective of this work is evaluate the local wind influence in a hypothetical oil spill along the Southern Brazilian shelf. The numerical simulation was carried using the ECOS model (Easy Coupling Oil System), an oil spill model developed at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande – FURG, coupled with the tridimensional hydrodynamical model TELEMAC3D (EDF, France). The hydrodynamic model provides the velocities, salinity and temperature fields used by the oil spill model to evaluate the behavior and fate of the oil. The results suggest that the local wind influence are the main forcing driven the fate of the spilled oil. The direction and intensity of the currents are important controlling the behavior and the tridimensional transportation of the oil, on the other hand, the turbulent diffusion is important for the horizontal drift of the oil. The weathering results indicate 40% of evaporation and 80% of emulsification, and the combination of these processes leads an increasing of the oil density around 53.4 kg/m³ after 5 days of simulation.

scholarly journals Mapping of Ecological Vulnerability of Sea-Coastal Zones to Oil Spills: A Preliminary Method Applied to Kola Bay, the Barents Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
pp. 216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anatoly Shavykin ◽  
Andrey Karnatov
Keyword(s):  
Barents Sea ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Vulnerability Factors ◽  
Ecological Vulnerability ◽  
Vulnerability Maps ◽  
Oil Spill Response ◽  
Potential Impact ◽  
Spilled Oil

Preparedness for oil spill response is a challenge for many coastal countries. Responders are unable to take effective action unless maps that indicate areas with different vulnerability to oil pollution are available. Such maps, developed in many countries, are usually based on calculations with rank (ordinal) values. However, arithmetic operations with them cannot be allowed. The article describes a method of constructing maps using metric values. The calculations take into account the biomass and the quantity of important biota components, especially significant socio-economic objects and protected areas. The biota distribution densities are represented in the identical units. The vulnerability factors are assessed based on the potential impact of spilled oil on biota, as well as its sensitivity and recoverability after disturbance. The proposed method takes into account the different sensitivity of biota inhabiting in the water column and on the sea surface. Oil vulnerability maps for Kola Bay using the proposed algorithm are presented.

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