Modeling of oil evaporation in an aqueous environment. research on the effects of crude oil transfer and upstream refineries on delaware bay
The goal of the overall research program is to provide information on the input of oil transfer operations in Delaware Bay for decision makers. The work reported here consists of the computer modeling of oil weathering in the early stage of a spill. A numerical model is developed to predict changes in oil characteristics, specific gravity, residues by weight and residues by volume of oil on water through evaporation known to dominate the early stage of weathering. The major driving forces for evaporation being considered include air temperature, wind speed, and size of slick. Laboratory experiments were conducted using No. 2 fuel oil, Nigerian Crude, and Venezuelan Crude to calibrate the numerical model and to gain physical insight into the oil evaporation process. Based on the laboratory results, empirical relationships are proposed for determining the diffusion coefficient described in the first-order decay formula. Both numerical and laboratory results seemed to indicate that the effect of temperature on oil weathering is significant in the very early stage of weathering, but diminishes at a later time. The effect of wind speed is more uniform throughout the time duration being tested.
- Research Organization:
- Delaware Univ., Newark (USA). Coll. of Marine Studies
- OSTI ID:
- 7214300
- Report Number(s):
- PB-264 968; CMS-RANN-5-76
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: See also PB--262723
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
PETROLEUM
EVAPORATION
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
TRANSPORT
WATER
WEATHERING
WIND
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
023000* - Petroleum- Properties & Composition
520200 - Environment
Aquatic- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)