Numerical modeling of the effect of chemical dispersant on oil droplet

Feng Gao, Fangda Cui, Lin Zhao, Michel Boufadel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

Chemical dispersant, which is a mixture of solvents, surfactants, and other additives, is commonly applied to oil slicks to reduce the oil-water interfacial tension in the event of the oil spill and many chemical engineering processes. In the present study, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is used to simulate the oil droplet with dispersant applied. The effect of the dispersant is modeled by accounting for the decrease of interfacial tension and dispersant concentration to study the characteristics of the single oil droplet rising in the still water column. The the tip-streaming, which is the process of oil peeling off from the rear tip of the oil droplet, is observed from CFD simulation. The results show that Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method is able to robustly predict the effect of chemical dispersant on the oil droplet, which helps to improve the understanding of the interaction between the oil droplet and the applied chemical dispersant as well as the evaluation of the effectiveness of chemical dispersant.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication4th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, TFEC 2019
PublisherBegell House Inc.
Pages1397-1406
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9781567004724
DOIs
StatePublished - 2019
Event4th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, TFEC 2019 - Las Vegas, United States
Duration: Apr 14 2019Apr 17 2019

Publication series

NameProceedings of the Thermal and Fluids Engineering Summer Conference
Volume2019-April
ISSN (Electronic)2379-1748

Conference

Conference4th Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference, TFEC 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityLas Vegas
Period4/14/194/17/19

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Keywords

  • Chemical dispersant
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Oil droplet

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