Intercomparison of oil spill prediction models for accidental blowout scenarios with and without subsea chemical dispersant injection

Scott A Socolofsky; E Eric Adams; Michel C Boufadel; Zachary M Aman; Øistein Johansen; Wolfgang J Konkel; David Lindo; Mads N Madsen; Elizabeth W North; Claire B Paris; Dorte Rasmussen; Mark Reed; Petter Rønningen; Lawrence H Sim; Thomas Uhrenholdt; Karl G Anderson; Cortis Cooper; Tim J Nedwed

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.05.039

Intercomparison of oil spill prediction models for accidental blowout scenarios with and without subsea chemical dispersant injection

Mar Pollut Bull. 2015 Jul 15;96(1-2):110-26. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.05.039. Epub 2015 May 26.

Authors

Scott A Socolofsky¹, E Eric Adams², Michel C Boufadel³, Zachary M Aman⁴, Øistein Johansen⁵, Wolfgang J Konkel⁶, David Lindo⁷, Mads N Madsen⁸, Elizabeth W North⁹, Claire B Paris¹⁰, Dorte Rasmussen¹¹, Mark Reed¹², Petter Rønningen¹³, Lawrence H Sim¹⁴, Thomas Uhrenholdt¹⁵, Karl G Anderson¹⁶, Cortis Cooper¹⁷, Tim J Nedwed¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Division of Coastal and Ocean Engineering, Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 3136 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-3136, USA. Electronic address: socolofs@tamu.edu.
² R.M. Parsons Laboratory, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rm. 48-216-B, 15 Vassar Street, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Electronic address: eeadams@mit.edu.
³ Center for Natural Resources Development and Protection, Department of Environmental Engineering, The New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA. Electronic address: boufadel@gmail.com.
⁴ Centre for Energy, School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia. Electronic address: zachary.aman@uwa.edu.au.
⁵ SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, Environmental Technology, Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: oeis-joh@online.no.
⁶ ExxonMobil Biomedical Sciences, Inc., Annandale, NJ 08801, USA. Electronic address: wolfgang.j.konkel@exxonmobil.com.
⁷ Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, FL 33140, USA. Electronic address: dlindo@rsmas.miami.edu.
⁸ DHI Water and Environment, Hørsholm, Denmark. Electronic address: mm@dhigroup.com.
⁹ University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, Horn Point Laboratory, Cambridge, MD 21613, USA. Electronic address: enorth@umces.edu.
¹⁰ Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, Miami, FL 33140, USA. Electronic address: cparis@rsmas.miami.edu.
¹¹ DHI Water and Environment, Hørsholm, Denmark. Electronic address: dor@dhigroup.com.
¹² SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, Environmental Technology, Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: Mark.Reed@sintef.no.
¹³ SINTEF Materials and Chemistry, Environmental Technology, Trondheim, Norway. Electronic address: Petter.Ronningen@sintef.no.
¹⁴ National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Albany, OR 97321, USA. Electronic address: Lawrence.Sim@contr.netl.doe.gov.
¹⁵ DHI Water and Environment, Hørsholm, Denmark. Electronic address: thu@dhigroup.com.
¹⁶ Shell Projects & Technology, Houston, TX 77252, USA. Electronic address: karl.g.anderson@shell.com.
¹⁷ Chevron Energy Technology Corporation, San Ramon, CA 94583, USA. Electronic address: cortcooper@chevron.com.
¹⁸ Upstream Research Company, Spring, TX 77339, USA. Electronic address: tim.j.nedwed@exxonmobil.com.

PMID: 26021288
DOI: 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.

Keywords: Chemical dispersant; Droplet size distribution; Lagrangian particle tracking; Model prediction; Multiphase plume; Subsea blowout.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Environmental Monitoring
Environmental Restoration and Remediation / methods
Models, Chemical*
Petroleum Pollution / analysis
Petroleum Pollution / statistics & numerical data*
Water Pollution, Chemical / statistics & numerical data*