Abstract
The spreading of oil in an open ocean may cause serious damage to a marine environmental system. Thus, an accurate prediction of oil spill is very important to minimize coastal damage due to unexpected oil spill accident. The movement of oil may be represented with a numerical model that solves an advection-diffusion-reaction equation with a proper numerical scheme. In this study, the spilled oil dispersion model has been established in consideration of tide and tidal currents simultaneously. The velocity components in the advection-diffusion-reaction equation are obtained from the shallow-water equations. The accuracy of the model is verified by applying it to a simple but significant problem. The results produced by the model agree with corresponding analytical solutions and field-observed data. The model is then applied to predict the spreading of an oil spill in a real coastal environment.
Highlights
In an ocean environment, a spilled oil due to an unexpected accident may cause a serious damage
The equation is difficult to solve numerically because it is represented by both hyperbolic- and parabolic-type partial differential equations
The numerical model developed in this study is employed to simulate the change of tide and tidal currents near the accident area of the Hebei Spirit oil spill occurred on December 7, 2007
Summary
A spilled oil due to an unexpected accident may cause a serious damage. The area of oil spreading can be predicted numerically by solving the proper equations governing the flow field and the associated mass transport phenomenon. Oil spills processes in a field of strong tide and tidal currents have not been investigated. The Hebei Spirit oil spill that occurred on December 7, 2007 is the largest oil spill accident occurred in the Yellow Sea. In the Yellow Sea, tidal currents are very strong and should be considered to investigate related coastal processes. The accuracy of the model for predicting tide and tidal currents is very important to investigate oil spreading in this area. Numerical simulations of tide and tidal currents are conducted to test the applicability of the spilled oil spreading model in the Yellow Sea, and the verification has been made comparing numerical results with the field observed data.
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