Three-dimensional visualization of multi-phase (oil/gas/hydrate) plumes

Visualization of multi-phase jets and plumes is a relatively new subject. Discussions on how to visualize them have not been seen elsewhere. Multi-phase jets and plumes (e.g. a plume from a deep water blowout that consist of a mixture of oil, gas, and gas hydrates) undergo phase changes during the transport of fluids up the water column. Effectively visualizing all the pertinent jet or plume information in such a case is a challenge. This paper presents new and innovative ways of visualizing the fate of a multi-phase plume including how the phase changes occur. A comprehensive deep water blowout model is used to provide the input to the visualization program. The model is briefly described in Appendix A and the model details are available in other published papers. The visualizations make it easier for the engineers as well as emergency response and other non-technical personnel to understand what happens to oil and gas when released from deep water. The paper also provides essential pseudo code for key algorithms