Oil spill modeling is an important technical measure to evaluate the impact of oil spills scientifically. Because of the great uncertainty in its early development, simulation results have not been used as the basis o...Oil spill modeling is an important technical measure to evaluate the impact of oil spills scientifically. Because of the great uncertainty in its early development, simulation results have not been used as the basis of judgments for environmental compensation cases. Despite this, scientific research institutes in many countries, including China, are still devoted to the research and development of oil spill models and their applications in environmental damage assessment, which makes it possible to apply them in the judicial arbitration of damages claims. The relevant regulations on the Chinese compensation fund for oil pollution damage from ships and the judicial authentication of environmental damage have also accredited such kind of modeling applications. In order to enhance the applicability of oil spill model further, it is necessary to expand its damage assessment function, and to test, calibrate and verify the accuracy of the evaluation. To this end, the author adopts the self-developed 3-dimentionaloil spill model—CWCM to simulate the “Tasman Sea” oil spill accident. By comparing the simulation results of tidal current field, wind field, oil spill trajectory with those observed, the model coding and parameter selection are corrected, and it is realized that the simulation being basically consistent with the measured results. In addition, the results of the scale reduced simulation test of oil spill weathering are applied verifying and perfecting the weathering model of CWCM. The technical requirements and process for operational application of oil spill model in judicial arbitration are also put forward. In view of the rapid simulation function, the operational updating program for oil spill weathering model, coupled current model and dynamic update wind field diagnostic model are put forward in order to further improve the operational evaluation function and evaluation efficiency of oil spill model.展开更多
The version 2.1 of PETROMAR-3D model, created in the Center for Marine Meteorology of the Meteorology Institute of Cuba, is presented. This Lagrangian model has been designed to describe the physical processes of mari...The version 2.1 of PETROMAR-3D model, created in the Center for Marine Meteorology of the Meteorology Institute of Cuba, is presented. This Lagrangian model has been designed to describe the physical processes of marine oil spills in the face of multiple scenarios of the marine environment. Although it is applicable to any part of the world, it is mainly designed for inter-American seas. The novelty has been to integrate the processes of drift and weathering into a model, with updated methods that incorporate 3D phenomena, a very favorable situation to achieve an operating system in Cuba and the region for the immediate and medium term. Python was chosen as the programming language because it has advanced libraries for numerical modeling, automation work and other useful tools for pre-and post-processing. By means of adapters, an important number of atmospheric, hydrodynamic and wave models have been considered to create the scenarios efficiently. The modular distribution in which the code has been created facilitates its use for other dispersion analysis and biophysical applications. Finally, a set of simple images are presented, aimed at informing decision-makers in order to mitigate the effects of the spill on the environment.展开更多
This article shows the probabilistic modeling of hydrocarbon spills on the surface of the sea, using climatology data of oil spill trajectories yielded by applying the lagrangian model PETROMAR-3D. To achieve this goa...This article shows the probabilistic modeling of hydrocarbon spills on the surface of the sea, using climatology data of oil spill trajectories yielded by applying the lagrangian model PETROMAR-3D. To achieve this goal, several computing and statistical tools were used to develop the probabilistic modeling solution based in the methodology of Guo. Solution was implemented using a databases approach and SQL language. A case study is presented which is based on a hypothetical spill in a location inside the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cuba. Important outputs and products of probabilistic modeling were obtained, which are very useful for decision-makers and operators in charge to face oil spill accidents and prepare contingency plans to minimize its effects. In order to study the relationship between the initial trajectory and the arrival of hydrocarbons spills to the coast, a new approach is introduced as an incoming perspective for modeling. It consists in storage in databases the direction of movement of the oil slick at the first 24 hours. The probabilistic modeling solution presented is of great importance for hazard studies of oil spills in Cuban coastal areas.展开更多
A numerical model has been developed to simulate the transport and fate of oil spilled at sea. The model combines the transport and fate processes of spilled oil with the random walk technique. Oil movement under th...A numerical model has been developed to simulate the transport and fate of oil spilled at sea. The model combines the transport and fate processes of spilled oil with the random walk technique. Oil movement under the influence of tidal currents, wind driven currents, and turbulent eddies is simulated by the PLUME RW dispersion model developed by HR Wallingford. The weathering processes in the model represent physical and chemical changes of soil slicks with time, and comprise mechanical spreading, dispersion, evaporation and emulsification. Shoreline stranding is determined approximately using a capacity method for different shoreline types. This paper presents details of the model, and describe the results of various sensitivity tests. The model is suitable for oil spill contingency planning.展开更多
Oil spill models can effectively simulate the trajectories and fate of oil slicks, which is an essential element in contingency planning and effective response strategies prepared for oil spill accidents. However, whe...Oil spill models can effectively simulate the trajectories and fate of oil slicks, which is an essential element in contingency planning and effective response strategies prepared for oil spill accidents. However, when applied to offshore areas such as the Bohai Sea, the trajectories and fate of oil slicks would be affected by time-varying factors in a regional scale, which are assumed to be constant in most of the present models. In fact, these factors in offshore regions show much more variation over time than in the deep sea, due to offshore bathymetric and climatic characteristics. In this paper, the challenge of parameterizing these offshore factors is tackled. The remote sensing data of the region are used to analyze the modification of wind-induced drift factors, and a well-suited solution is established in parameter correction mechanism for oil spill models. The novelty of the algorithm is the self-adaptive modification mechanism of the drift factors derived from the remote sensing data for the targeted sea region, in respect to empirical constants in the present models. Considering this situation, a new regional oil spill model(i4Oil Spill) for the Bohai Sea is developed, which can simulate oil transformation and fate processes by Eulerian-Lagrangian methodology. The forecasting accuracy of the proposed model is proven by the validation results in the comparison between model simulation and subsequent satellite observations on the Penglai 19-3 oil spill accident. The performance of the model parameter correction mechanism is evaluated by comparing with the real spilled oil position extracted from ASAR images.展开更多
The simulation of the transport and fate of an oil slick, accidentally introduced in the marine environment, is the focus of this research. An oil spill dispersion forecasting system (DIAVLOS forecasting system), ba...The simulation of the transport and fate of an oil slick, accidentally introduced in the marine environment, is the focus of this research. An oil spill dispersion forecasting system (DIAVLOS forecasting system), based on wind, wave and ocean circulation forecasting models is developed. The 3-D oil spill model, by the University of Thessaloniki, is based on a Lagrangian (tracer) model that accounts for the transport-diffusion-dispersion and physicochemical evolution of an oil slick. The high resolution meteorological, hydrodynamic and wave models are coupled with the operational systems ALERMO and SKIRON of the University of Athens. The modelling system was successfully assembled and tested under theoretical and realistic scenarios, in order to be applied in forecasting mode and be used by local authorities when an accident occurs. As a result, a 48-hours oil spill dispersion forecasting system was synthesized aiming primarily at the oil spill management at the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil-pipe terminal, part of a greater busy coastal basin in North Aegean.展开更多
A 3-D forecasting model for oil-spill is developed using the finite difference method to numerically solve the shallow water equation. The instantaneous flow distribution in the studied area is calculated and the traj...A 3-D forecasting model for oil-spill is developed using the finite difference method to numerically solve the shallow water equation. The instantaneous flow distribution in the studied area is calculated and the trajectory of the oil-slick centroid is predicted by means of Lagrange’s method. The computed results agree with the observed data well, this shows that this 3-D forecasting model has high accuracy.展开更多
Oil spills can generate multiple effects in different time scales on the marine ecosystem. The numerical modeling of these processes is an important tool with low computational cost which provides a powerful appliance...Oil spills can generate multiple effects in different time scales on the marine ecosystem. The numerical modeling of these processes is an important tool with low computational cost which provides a powerful appliance to environmental agencies regarding the risk management. In this way, the objective of this work is to evaluate the influence of a number of physical forcing acting over a hypothetical oil spill along the Southern Brazilian Shelf. The numerical simulation was carried out using the ECOS model (Easy Coupling Oil System), an oil spill model developed at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande—FURG, coupled with the tridimensional hydrodynamic model TELEMAC3D (EDF, France). The hydrodynamic model provides the current velocity, salinity and temperature fields used by the oil spill model to evaluate the behavior and the fate of the spilled oil. The results suggest that the local wind influence is the main forcing driven the fate of the spilled oil, and this forcing responds for more than 60% of the oil slick variability. The direction and intensity of the costal currents control between 20% and 40% of the oil variability, and the currents are important controlling the behavior and the tridimensional transportation of the oil. On the other hand, the turbulent diffusion is important for the horizontal drift of the oil. The weathering results indicate 40% of evaporation and 80% of emulsification, and the combination of these processes leads an increasing of the oil density around, 53.4 kg/m3 after 5 days of simulation.展开更多
Spilled oil floats and travels across the water’s surface under the influence of wind,currents,and wave action.Wave-induced Stokes drift is an important physical process that can affect surface water particles but th...Spilled oil floats and travels across the water’s surface under the influence of wind,currents,and wave action.Wave-induced Stokes drift is an important physical process that can affect surface water particles but that is currently absent from oil spill analyses.In this study,two methods are applied to determine the velocity of Stokes drift,the first calculates velocity from the wind-related formula based upon a one-dimensional frequency spectrum,while the second determines velocity directly from the wave model that was based on a twodimensional spectrum.The experimental results of numerous models indicated that:(1)oil simulations that include the influence of Stokes drift are more accurate than that those do not;(2)for medium and long-term simulations longer than two days or more,Stokes drift is a significant factor that should not be ignored,and its magnitude can reach about 2%of the wind speed;(3)the velocity of Stokes drift is related to the wind but is not linear.Therefore,Stokes drift cannot simply be replaced or substituted by simply increasing the wind drift factor,which can cause errors in oil spill projections;(4)the Stokes drift velocity obtained from the two-dimensional wave spectrum makes the oil spill simulation more accurate.展开更多
Immediately following a spill at sea, released oil ranging from diesel to light crude and diluted bitumen, will initially weather through evaporation, resulting in an elevated concentration of light hydrocarbons in th...Immediately following a spill at sea, released oil ranging from diesel to light crude and diluted bitumen, will initially weather through evaporation, resulting in an elevated concentration of light hydrocarbons in the air. As part of oil spill response operations, first responders use hand-held devices to monitor airborne concent- rations when approaching a spill. The feasibility of using numerical modelling as an additional tool to assess potential flammability and plan response operations in the spill area was explored in this study. The Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) is defined as the minimum concentration of a gas in air, in this case a mixture of evaporated hydrocarbons, which can produce a flash fire in the presence of an ignition source. This ignition source could be triggered by the vessel itself or by spill response operations. A framework was put into place, utilizing a three- dimensional hydrodynamic model (H3D), an oil spill model (SPILLCALC), and an air dispersion model (CALPUFF) to assess the risk of possible ignition of the hydrocarbon vapour in the event of a spill. The study looked at a hypothetical credible worst case tanker spill (16 500 m3) of diluted bitumen (cold lake winter blend) occurring at Arachne Reef in Haro Strait, British Columbia, Canada. SPILLCALC provided one-minute averaged vapour fluxes from the water surface for each of 17 modelled pseudo-components which were used as inputs to CALPUFF. Using the predicted airborne concentrations of each pseudo-component, time-scaled to one-second averages, the flammability potential in the immediate spill area was determined at each grid point using Le Chatelier’s mixing equation. The approach describe here was developed as a proof of concept, and could be established as a real-time system, bringing valuable information in addition to hand-held devices during a spill response, or during a response exercise. This modelling study was conducted as part of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project. There are a number of commercially available oil spill models but few if any are equipped with the ability to model air dispersion and forecast hazardous conditions as discussed in this paper.展开更多
The Bohai Sea is a seasonal icy sea area that has the lowest latitude of any sea experiencing icing in the northern hemisphere, and simulation studies on oil spills during its sea ice period are the key to analyzing w...The Bohai Sea is a seasonal icy sea area that has the lowest latitude of any sea experiencing icing in the northern hemisphere, and simulation studies on oil spills during its sea ice period are the key to analyzing winter oil spill accidents. This study applied the three-dimensional free surface to establish a high-resolution hydrodynamic model and simulate tidal distributions in the Bohai Sea. Then, the oil spill model of the open sea area and thermodynamic model were combined to establish a numerical model for the Bohai oil spill during the winter sea ice period. The hydrodynamic model and sea ice growth and melting model were verified, and the parameters were adjusted based on the measured values, which indicate that the numerical model established in this paper is of high accuracy,stability and ubiquity. Finally, after checking the calculations repeatedly, the diffusion coefficient for the Bohai Sea was determined to be 1.0×10^(–7 )m^2/s. It is better that the comprehensive weathering attenuation coefficient is lower than that of a non-winter oil spill, with 1.3×10^(–7 )m^2/s being the most appropriate coefficient. This study can provide the reliable technical support for the operational safety and reduction in losses caused by winter oil spill accidents for the petroleum industry.展开更多
The purpose of this study is to analyze the population dynamics of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) affected by localized oil spills. Methods include development of a spatial, stage-classified matrix model par...The purpose of this study is to analyze the population dynamics of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) affected by localized oil spills. Methods include development of a spatial, stage-classified matrix model parameterized for the following primary loggerhead populations: Gulf of Mexico, western North Atlantic Ocean, and Florida peninsula. Oil spills are simulated deterministically in each population's nesting region, with 1) oil-induced mortality ranging from 25% to 100% and 2) stage classes affected either proportionally or equally. A transient sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the parameters most influential to the population growth rate. Results suggest that increased protection and understanding of young sea turtles found in the Sargasso Sea is essential to the survival of the species. In addition, findings provide insights into the population dynamics of the At- lantic loggerhead turtles and identify conservation measures appropriate in each oil spill case.展开更多
In leading petroleum-producing countries like Kuwait, Brazil, Iran, Iraq and Mexico oil spills frequently occur on land, causing serious damage to crop fields. Soil remediation requires constant monitoring of the poll...In leading petroleum-producing countries like Kuwait, Brazil, Iran, Iraq and Mexico oil spills frequently occur on land, causing serious damage to crop fields. Soil remediation requires constant monitoring of the polluted area. One common monitoring method involves two-dimensional systematic sampling, which can be used to estimate the proportion of the contaminated soil and study the oil spills’ geographic distribution. A well-known issue using this sampling design involves the analytical derivation of variance of the sample mean (proportion), which requires at least two independent samples. To address the problem, this research proposed a variance estimator based on regression and a corrected estimator using the autocorrelation Geary Index under the model-assisted approach. The construction of the estimators was assisted by geo-statistical models by simulating an auxiliary variable. Similar populations to those in real oil spills were recreated, and the accuracy of proposed estimators was evaluated by comparing their performance with other well-known estimators. The factors considered in this simulation study were: a) the model for simulating the populations (exponential and wave), b) the mean and the variance of the process, c) the level of autocorrelation among units. Given the statistical and computing burdens (bias, ratio between estimated and real variance, convergence and computer time), under the exponential model, the regression estimator showed the best performance;and for the wave model, the corrected version performed even better.展开更多
文摘Oil spill modeling is an important technical measure to evaluate the impact of oil spills scientifically. Because of the great uncertainty in its early development, simulation results have not been used as the basis of judgments for environmental compensation cases. Despite this, scientific research institutes in many countries, including China, are still devoted to the research and development of oil spill models and their applications in environmental damage assessment, which makes it possible to apply them in the judicial arbitration of damages claims. The relevant regulations on the Chinese compensation fund for oil pollution damage from ships and the judicial authentication of environmental damage have also accredited such kind of modeling applications. In order to enhance the applicability of oil spill model further, it is necessary to expand its damage assessment function, and to test, calibrate and verify the accuracy of the evaluation. To this end, the author adopts the self-developed 3-dimentionaloil spill model—CWCM to simulate the “Tasman Sea” oil spill accident. By comparing the simulation results of tidal current field, wind field, oil spill trajectory with those observed, the model coding and parameter selection are corrected, and it is realized that the simulation being basically consistent with the measured results. In addition, the results of the scale reduced simulation test of oil spill weathering are applied verifying and perfecting the weathering model of CWCM. The technical requirements and process for operational application of oil spill model in judicial arbitration are also put forward. In view of the rapid simulation function, the operational updating program for oil spill weathering model, coupled current model and dynamic update wind field diagnostic model are put forward in order to further improve the operational evaluation function and evaluation efficiency of oil spill model.
文摘The version 2.1 of PETROMAR-3D model, created in the Center for Marine Meteorology of the Meteorology Institute of Cuba, is presented. This Lagrangian model has been designed to describe the physical processes of marine oil spills in the face of multiple scenarios of the marine environment. Although it is applicable to any part of the world, it is mainly designed for inter-American seas. The novelty has been to integrate the processes of drift and weathering into a model, with updated methods that incorporate 3D phenomena, a very favorable situation to achieve an operating system in Cuba and the region for the immediate and medium term. Python was chosen as the programming language because it has advanced libraries for numerical modeling, automation work and other useful tools for pre-and post-processing. By means of adapters, an important number of atmospheric, hydrodynamic and wave models have been considered to create the scenarios efficiently. The modular distribution in which the code has been created facilitates its use for other dispersion analysis and biophysical applications. Finally, a set of simple images are presented, aimed at informing decision-makers in order to mitigate the effects of the spill on the environment.
文摘This article shows the probabilistic modeling of hydrocarbon spills on the surface of the sea, using climatology data of oil spill trajectories yielded by applying the lagrangian model PETROMAR-3D. To achieve this goal, several computing and statistical tools were used to develop the probabilistic modeling solution based in the methodology of Guo. Solution was implemented using a databases approach and SQL language. A case study is presented which is based on a hypothetical spill in a location inside the Exclusive Economic Zone of Cuba. Important outputs and products of probabilistic modeling were obtained, which are very useful for decision-makers and operators in charge to face oil spill accidents and prepare contingency plans to minimize its effects. In order to study the relationship between the initial trajectory and the arrival of hydrocarbons spills to the coast, a new approach is introduced as an incoming perspective for modeling. It consists in storage in databases the direction of movement of the oil slick at the first 24 hours. The probabilistic modeling solution presented is of great importance for hazard studies of oil spills in Cuban coastal areas.
文摘A numerical model has been developed to simulate the transport and fate of oil spilled at sea. The model combines the transport and fate processes of spilled oil with the random walk technique. Oil movement under the influence of tidal currents, wind driven currents, and turbulent eddies is simulated by the PLUME RW dispersion model developed by HR Wallingford. The weathering processes in the model represent physical and chemical changes of soil slicks with time, and comprise mechanical spreading, dispersion, evaporation and emulsification. Shoreline stranding is determined approximately using a capacity method for different shoreline types. This paper presents details of the model, and describe the results of various sensitivity tests. The model is suitable for oil spill contingency planning.
基金supported by following programs: 1) NSFC-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers (Grant No. U1406404)The National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2014AA09A511)+2 种基金The Scientific and Technological Innovation Project of the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Grant No. 2015ASKJ01)International Cooperation and Exchange of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61361136001)Open Fund of Key Laboratory of Marine Spill Oil Identification and Damage Assessment Technology SOA (Grant No. 201508)
文摘Oil spill models can effectively simulate the trajectories and fate of oil slicks, which is an essential element in contingency planning and effective response strategies prepared for oil spill accidents. However, when applied to offshore areas such as the Bohai Sea, the trajectories and fate of oil slicks would be affected by time-varying factors in a regional scale, which are assumed to be constant in most of the present models. In fact, these factors in offshore regions show much more variation over time than in the deep sea, due to offshore bathymetric and climatic characteristics. In this paper, the challenge of parameterizing these offshore factors is tackled. The remote sensing data of the region are used to analyze the modification of wind-induced drift factors, and a well-suited solution is established in parameter correction mechanism for oil spill models. The novelty of the algorithm is the self-adaptive modification mechanism of the drift factors derived from the remote sensing data for the targeted sea region, in respect to empirical constants in the present models. Considering this situation, a new regional oil spill model(i4Oil Spill) for the Bohai Sea is developed, which can simulate oil transformation and fate processes by Eulerian-Lagrangian methodology. The forecasting accuracy of the proposed model is proven by the validation results in the comparison between model simulation and subsequent satellite observations on the Penglai 19-3 oil spill accident. The performance of the model parameter correction mechanism is evaluated by comparing with the real spilled oil position extracted from ASAR images.
文摘The simulation of the transport and fate of an oil slick, accidentally introduced in the marine environment, is the focus of this research. An oil spill dispersion forecasting system (DIAVLOS forecasting system), based on wind, wave and ocean circulation forecasting models is developed. The 3-D oil spill model, by the University of Thessaloniki, is based on a Lagrangian (tracer) model that accounts for the transport-diffusion-dispersion and physicochemical evolution of an oil slick. The high resolution meteorological, hydrodynamic and wave models are coupled with the operational systems ALERMO and SKIRON of the University of Athens. The modelling system was successfully assembled and tested under theoretical and realistic scenarios, in order to be applied in forecasting mode and be used by local authorities when an accident occurs. As a result, a 48-hours oil spill dispersion forecasting system was synthesized aiming primarily at the oil spill management at the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil-pipe terminal, part of a greater busy coastal basin in North Aegean.
文摘A 3-D forecasting model for oil-spill is developed using the finite difference method to numerically solve the shallow water equation. The instantaneous flow distribution in the studied area is calculated and the trajectory of the oil-slick centroid is predicted by means of Lagrange’s method. The computed results agree with the observed data well, this shows that this 3-D forecasting model has high accuracy.
文摘Oil spills can generate multiple effects in different time scales on the marine ecosystem. The numerical modeling of these processes is an important tool with low computational cost which provides a powerful appliance to environmental agencies regarding the risk management. In this way, the objective of this work is to evaluate the influence of a number of physical forcing acting over a hypothetical oil spill along the Southern Brazilian Shelf. The numerical simulation was carried out using the ECOS model (Easy Coupling Oil System), an oil spill model developed at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande—FURG, coupled with the tridimensional hydrodynamic model TELEMAC3D (EDF, France). The hydrodynamic model provides the current velocity, salinity and temperature fields used by the oil spill model to evaluate the behavior and the fate of the spilled oil. The results suggest that the local wind influence is the main forcing driven the fate of the spilled oil, and this forcing responds for more than 60% of the oil slick variability. The direction and intensity of the costal currents control between 20% and 40% of the oil variability, and the currents are important controlling the behavior and the tridimensional transportation of the oil. On the other hand, the turbulent diffusion is important for the horizontal drift of the oil. The weathering results indicate 40% of evaporation and 80% of emulsification, and the combination of these processes leads an increasing of the oil density around, 53.4 kg/m3 after 5 days of simulation.
基金The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41976018 and 42006021the Guangdong Province Key Area Research and Development Program under contract No.2020B1111020003+1 种基金the Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Survey Technology and Application Open Research Program under contract No.MESTA-2020-B012the Guangdong Key Laboratory of Ocean Remote Sensing Open Research Program“Based on muti-source analysis and remote sensing retrieval to study Sargassum bloom trend prediction in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea”under contract No.2017B030301005-LORS2011。
文摘Spilled oil floats and travels across the water’s surface under the influence of wind,currents,and wave action.Wave-induced Stokes drift is an important physical process that can affect surface water particles but that is currently absent from oil spill analyses.In this study,two methods are applied to determine the velocity of Stokes drift,the first calculates velocity from the wind-related formula based upon a one-dimensional frequency spectrum,while the second determines velocity directly from the wave model that was based on a twodimensional spectrum.The experimental results of numerous models indicated that:(1)oil simulations that include the influence of Stokes drift are more accurate than that those do not;(2)for medium and long-term simulations longer than two days or more,Stokes drift is a significant factor that should not be ignored,and its magnitude can reach about 2%of the wind speed;(3)the velocity of Stokes drift is related to the wind but is not linear.Therefore,Stokes drift cannot simply be replaced or substituted by simply increasing the wind drift factor,which can cause errors in oil spill projections;(4)the Stokes drift velocity obtained from the two-dimensional wave spectrum makes the oil spill simulation more accurate.
文摘Immediately following a spill at sea, released oil ranging from diesel to light crude and diluted bitumen, will initially weather through evaporation, resulting in an elevated concentration of light hydrocarbons in the air. As part of oil spill response operations, first responders use hand-held devices to monitor airborne concent- rations when approaching a spill. The feasibility of using numerical modelling as an additional tool to assess potential flammability and plan response operations in the spill area was explored in this study. The Lower Explosive Limit (LEL) is defined as the minimum concentration of a gas in air, in this case a mixture of evaporated hydrocarbons, which can produce a flash fire in the presence of an ignition source. This ignition source could be triggered by the vessel itself or by spill response operations. A framework was put into place, utilizing a three- dimensional hydrodynamic model (H3D), an oil spill model (SPILLCALC), and an air dispersion model (CALPUFF) to assess the risk of possible ignition of the hydrocarbon vapour in the event of a spill. The study looked at a hypothetical credible worst case tanker spill (16 500 m3) of diluted bitumen (cold lake winter blend) occurring at Arachne Reef in Haro Strait, British Columbia, Canada. SPILLCALC provided one-minute averaged vapour fluxes from the water surface for each of 17 modelled pseudo-components which were used as inputs to CALPUFF. Using the predicted airborne concentrations of each pseudo-component, time-scaled to one-second averages, the flammability potential in the immediate spill area was determined at each grid point using Le Chatelier’s mixing equation. The approach describe here was developed as a proof of concept, and could be established as a real-time system, bringing valuable information in addition to hand-held devices during a spill response, or during a response exercise. This modelling study was conducted as part of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project. There are a number of commercially available oil spill models but few if any are equipped with the ability to model air dispersion and forecast hazardous conditions as discussed in this paper.
基金financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning Province,China(Grant No.20180551183)the Scientific Research Foundation for Doctoral Scholars of Liaoning Province,China(Grant No.201601388)the Key Research and Development Project of Liaoning Province,China(Grant No.2018228004)
文摘The Bohai Sea is a seasonal icy sea area that has the lowest latitude of any sea experiencing icing in the northern hemisphere, and simulation studies on oil spills during its sea ice period are the key to analyzing winter oil spill accidents. This study applied the three-dimensional free surface to establish a high-resolution hydrodynamic model and simulate tidal distributions in the Bohai Sea. Then, the oil spill model of the open sea area and thermodynamic model were combined to establish a numerical model for the Bohai oil spill during the winter sea ice period. The hydrodynamic model and sea ice growth and melting model were verified, and the parameters were adjusted based on the measured values, which indicate that the numerical model established in this paper is of high accuracy,stability and ubiquity. Finally, after checking the calculations repeatedly, the diffusion coefficient for the Bohai Sea was determined to be 1.0×10^(–7 )m^2/s. It is better that the comprehensive weathering attenuation coefficient is lower than that of a non-winter oil spill, with 1.3×10^(–7 )m^2/s being the most appropriate coefficient. This study can provide the reliable technical support for the operational safety and reduction in losses caused by winter oil spill accidents for the petroleum industry.
文摘The purpose of this study is to analyze the population dynamics of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) affected by localized oil spills. Methods include development of a spatial, stage-classified matrix model parameterized for the following primary loggerhead populations: Gulf of Mexico, western North Atlantic Ocean, and Florida peninsula. Oil spills are simulated deterministically in each population's nesting region, with 1) oil-induced mortality ranging from 25% to 100% and 2) stage classes affected either proportionally or equally. A transient sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the parameters most influential to the population growth rate. Results suggest that increased protection and understanding of young sea turtles found in the Sargasso Sea is essential to the survival of the species. In addition, findings provide insights into the population dynamics of the At- lantic loggerhead turtles and identify conservation measures appropriate in each oil spill case.
文摘In leading petroleum-producing countries like Kuwait, Brazil, Iran, Iraq and Mexico oil spills frequently occur on land, causing serious damage to crop fields. Soil remediation requires constant monitoring of the polluted area. One common monitoring method involves two-dimensional systematic sampling, which can be used to estimate the proportion of the contaminated soil and study the oil spills’ geographic distribution. A well-known issue using this sampling design involves the analytical derivation of variance of the sample mean (proportion), which requires at least two independent samples. To address the problem, this research proposed a variance estimator based on regression and a corrected estimator using the autocorrelation Geary Index under the model-assisted approach. The construction of the estimators was assisted by geo-statistical models by simulating an auxiliary variable. Similar populations to those in real oil spills were recreated, and the accuracy of proposed estimators was evaluated by comparing their performance with other well-known estimators. The factors considered in this simulation study were: a) the model for simulating the populations (exponential and wave), b) the mean and the variance of the process, c) the level of autocorrelation among units. Given the statistical and computing burdens (bias, ratio between estimated and real variance, convergence and computer time), under the exponential model, the regression estimator showed the best performance;and for the wave model, the corrected version performed even better.