A model for simulating the transport and behavior of oil and gas released from deepwater

Based on the analysis of the transport and behavior of oil and gas mixture released from deepwater oil spill accidents(e.g.,subsea oil well blowout,subsea oil pipeline leakage),a three-dimensional deepwater oil spill model(DOSM) was developed.The model uses the Lagrangian integral method to simulate the jet and plume of spilled oil in the near field,and uses the particle tracking method to simulate the advection and diffusion of oil droplets/slicks in the far field(i.e.,in the water column and on the water surface).The model can also simulate many important behaviors of oil and gas mixture that affect the movement of spilled oil,including the gas dissolution,gas hydrate formation and dissociation,possible gas separation from a bent plume,etc.The DOSM model was applied to simulate two large-scale deepwater oil spill field experiments conducted in Norway Sea,results show that the simulated temporal-spatial distributions of spilled oil in the water column are in good agreement with the field observed data,and this indicates that the model has good accuracy and applicability.Therefore the model can provide valuable theoretical and technical supports for deepwater oil spill prevention and response.