Offshore petroleum pollution compared numerically via algorithm tests and computation solutions

Abstract

This work aims at using oil transport and weathering models available in literature, and compare them numerically, by developing algorithms of Lagrangian particles for oil spilled on the ocean surface. This is the first step in the development of a new model for oil spills in the Brazilian Atlantic Ocean, comparing it with two reference models developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and distributed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The results, in this work, were subject to statistical tests, which showed good compatibility between the new and reference models. The code was tested on the southeast coast of Brazil under different meteorological and oceanic conditions. The modeling results of the physical and chemical transformations related to the oil weathering presented very similar results, even for completely different formulations. Similar results were also obtained for the transport and trajectory of the oil slick, whereas slick size varied greatly according to different turbulence parameters assumed for the water-oil-air interface layer. All the models analyzed presented very similar results for all analyzed effects, being considered reliable to describe the oil slick trajectory and weathering.