Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of three external forces (tidal current, wind, and waves) on the movement of oil spilled during the Hebei Spirit oil spill accident. The diffusion of the spilled oil was simulated by using a random walk (RW) model that tracks the movement caused by advection-diffusion assuming oil as particles. For oil simulation, the wind drift current generated by wind and tidal current fields were computed by using the environmental fluid dynamics code (EFDC) model. Next, the wave fields were simulated by using the simulating waves nearshore (SWAN) model, and the Stokes drift current fields were calculated by applying the equation proposed by Stokes. The computed tidal currents, wind drift currents, and Stokes drift currents were applied as input data to the RW model. Then, oil diffusion distribution for each external force component was investigated and compared with that obtained from satellite images. When the wind drift currents and Stokes drift currents caused by waves were considered, the diffusion distribution of the spilled oil showed good agreement with that obtained from the observation.
Highlights
In South Korea, international trade and oil imports are increasing rapidly because of industrial development and rapid economic growth
In terms of the transportation involved in import and export, marine transport allows for transcontinental transportation with low freight rates by enabling simultaneous transport of large amounts of cargo
In South Korea, more than 90% of the trading volume relies on marine transport; further, oil traffic accounts for about 30% of all marine transportation
Summary
In South Korea, international trade and oil imports are increasing rapidly because of industrial development and rapid economic growth. Oil supertankers with capacities of 100,000 tons arrive and depart at ports more than 800 times annually, which increases the possibility of the occurrence of oil spill accidents. Such oil spills are caused by marine accidents involving ships (stranding, collision, and sinking), or due to carelessness; more than 300 cases occur annually. The Hebei Spirit oil spill accident in the Yellow Sea was the largest marine oil spill in South Korea (Figure 1). According to the Korea Coast Guard (KCG) report [2], the spilled oil after the accident spread out rapidly toward coastlines because of the northwestern winds and currents during the 30 days, thereby contaminating more than 375 km of coastlines on the west coast of South
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