TY - JOUR
T1 - Underwater oil jet
T2 - Hydrodynamics and droplet size distribution
AU - Zhao, Lin
AU - Shaffer, Franklin
AU - Robinson, Brian
AU - King, Thomas
AU - D'Ambrose, Christopher
AU - Pan, Zhong
AU - Gao, Feng
AU - Miller, Richard S.
AU - Conmy, Robyn N.
AU - Boufadel, Michel C.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was made possible through funding from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, Project # 1027 (2014); the Department of Fisheries and Ocean Canada (DFO), Contract No. F5211-130060; and the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative through the Consortium DROPPS II. Data are publicly available through the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information & Data Cooperative (GRIIDC) at https://data.gulfresearchinitiative.org (doi: 10.7266/N7D798DN ). However, no endorsement of these sponsors is implied.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2016/9/1
Y1 - 2016/9/1
N2 - We conducted a large scale experiment of underwater oil release of 6.3 L/s through a 25.4 mm (one inch) horizontal pipe. Detailed measurements of plume trajectory, velocity, oil droplet size distribution, and oil holdup were obtained. The obtained experimental data were used for the validation of the models JETLAG and VDROP-J. Key findings include: (1) formation of two plumes, one due to momentum and subsequently plume buoyancy, and another due mostly to the buoyancy of individual oil droplets that separate upward from the first plume; (2) modeling results indicated that the traditional miscible plume models matched the momentum and buoyancy plume, but were not able to simulate the upward motion plume induced by individual oil droplets; (3) high resolution images in the jet primary breakup region showed the formation of ligaments and drops in a process known as "primary breakup". These threads re-entered the plume to re-break in a process known as "secondary breakup"; (4) the plume velocity was highly heterogeneous with regions of high velocity surrounded by stagnant regions for various durations. The results from this study revealed that the primary breakup is a key factor for quantifying the droplet size distribution which plays a crucial role in determining the ultimate fate and transport of the released oil in the marine environment. The observed spatial heterogeneity in the oil plume implies that the effectiveness of applied dispersants may vary greatly when applying directly in the discharged oil flow.
AB - We conducted a large scale experiment of underwater oil release of 6.3 L/s through a 25.4 mm (one inch) horizontal pipe. Detailed measurements of plume trajectory, velocity, oil droplet size distribution, and oil holdup were obtained. The obtained experimental data were used for the validation of the models JETLAG and VDROP-J. Key findings include: (1) formation of two plumes, one due to momentum and subsequently plume buoyancy, and another due mostly to the buoyancy of individual oil droplets that separate upward from the first plume; (2) modeling results indicated that the traditional miscible plume models matched the momentum and buoyancy plume, but were not able to simulate the upward motion plume induced by individual oil droplets; (3) high resolution images in the jet primary breakup region showed the formation of ligaments and drops in a process known as "primary breakup". These threads re-entered the plume to re-break in a process known as "secondary breakup"; (4) the plume velocity was highly heterogeneous with regions of high velocity surrounded by stagnant regions for various durations. The results from this study revealed that the primary breakup is a key factor for quantifying the droplet size distribution which plays a crucial role in determining the ultimate fate and transport of the released oil in the marine environment. The observed spatial heterogeneity in the oil plume implies that the effectiveness of applied dispersants may vary greatly when applying directly in the discharged oil flow.
KW - Droplet size distribution
KW - Large scale experiment
KW - Ohmsett wave tank
KW - Oil spill
KW - Plume trajectory
KW - Subsurface oil release
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U2 - 10.1016/j.cej.2016.04.061
DO - 10.1016/j.cej.2016.04.061
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84967329168
SN - 1385-8947
VL - 299
SP - 292
EP - 303
JO - Chemical Engineering Journal
JF - Chemical Engineering Journal
ER -