Application of particle population kinetics in modeling the vertical transport of chemically dispersed crude oil Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • Oil spilled on the surface of a water body consists of a floating surface slick and of suspended oil droplets in the water column. A model describing the influence of coalescence on the resurfacing of oil droplets was presented. Dispersed oil droplets were separated into size classes; the transport of each class was modeled using an advection-dispersion-reaction (ADR) equation. The coalescence reaction was described using Smoluchowski aggregation kinetics. Using this model the relative influence of system specific parameters was determined. The results highlighted the importance of coagulation in oil contaminated marine environments for a range of concentrations. Ignoring droplet coalescence in scenarios similar to the simulation reference case would result in a 35 % underprediction of resurfacing rate. The magultude of this error would be comparable to that of ignoring transport due to droplet buoyancy. However, the most significant parameter in determining oil resurfacing was the shear rate and the corresponding vertical dispersion. Based on the model, lowering the initial concentrations of dispersed oil reduced the rate of coalescence by a power of 2. Thus, increased dilution rates would act to reduce oil droplet coalescence and resurfacing rates. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 26th Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program Technical Seminar (Victoria, British Columbia 6/10-13/2003).

published proceedings

  • Environment Canada Arctic and Marine Oil Spill Program Technical Seminar (AMOP) Proceedings

author list (cited authors)

  • Sterling, M. C., Ojo, T., Autenrieth, R. L., Bonner, J. S., Page, C. A., & Ernest, A.

complete list of authors

  • Sterling, MC||Ojo, T||Autenrieth, RL||Bonner, JS||Page, CA||Ernest, ANS

publication date

  • December 2003