Calculation of oil droplet size distribution in ocean oil spills: A review

Abstract

Calculation of oil droplet size distribution is one of the key components of ocean oil spill models. Oil fate and transport calculations of the model are significantly impacted by the droplet size distribution. Accuracy of the model predictions heavily depend on how well the model can calculate or represent oil droplet sizes. However, in early oil spill models, the importance of oil droplet size calculation has been overlooked and they used simple empirical formulas. In recent decades, there have been some significant improvements in understanding of oil droplet size calculations. Both experimental studies as well as numerical studies have been contributed to improve oil droplet size calculations. The traditional equilibrium models have been improved while droplet dynamics models provided a different dimension to the oil DSD calculations. Thus, at this stage it is important to review the existing studies and methods of oil droplet size calculation. The objective of this paper is to review the development of oil droplet size calculation in ocean oil spill models highlighting the recent improvements. Furthermore, this paper discusses the capabilities and limitations of different approaches in calculating oil droplet size distribution in both underwater and surface oil spill models and discuss their applicability to different situations. This study will provide a good guideline for future oil spill model developments to improve the oil droplet size calculations.