Evolution of droplets in subsea oil and gas blowouts: development and validation of the numerical model VDROP-J.
The droplet size distribution of dispersed phase (oil and/or gas) in submerged buoyant jets was addressed in this work using a numerical model, VDROP-J. A brief literature review on jets and plumes allows the development of average equations for the change of jet velocity, dilution, and mixing energy as function of distance from the orifice. The model VDROP-J was then calibrated to jets emanating from orifices ranging in diameter, D, from 0.5 mm to 0.12 m, and in cross-section average jet velocity at the orifice ranging from 1.5 m/s to 27 m/s. The d50/D obtained from the model (where d50 is the volume median diameter of droplets) correlated very well with data, with an R(2)=0.99. Finally, the VDROP-J model was used to predict the droplet size distribution from Deepwater Horizon blowouts. The droplet size distribution from the blowout is of great importance to the fate and transport of the spilled oil in marine environment.
Center for Natural Resources Development and Protection, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA.
Lin
L
Zhao
Center for Natural Resources Development and Protection, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ 07102, USA. Electronic address: boufadel@gmail.com.
Michel C
MC
Boufadel
Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA.
Scott A
SA
Socolofsky
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
Eric
E
Adams
Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Dartmouth, Canada.
Thomas
T
King
Flagship of Wealth from Oceans, Commonwealth Scientific and Industry Research Organization (CSIRO), Perth, Australia.
Kenneth
K
Lee
D003198:Computer Simulation; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D059392:Petroleum Pollution
Dispersant; Droplet size distribution; Jets and plumes; Oil deep spill; Oil droplets; Oil fate and transport