Numerical Simulation of the Trajectory and Fate of Spilled Oil at Sea

To minimize the damage resulting from oil spill accidents, it is necessary to respond quickly with an appropriate strategy. Accurately forecasting the behavior of the spilled oil is crucial for a successful recovery operation and protection of marine resources. Therefore, the numerical modeling and simulation of the spilled oil at sea plays an important role in the oil spill response and contingency decision-making. On the basis of the physical modeling of the three-dimensional hydrodynamic current and the trajectory and fate of spilled oil, an integrated numerical modeling technique was developed for the real-time forecast of spilled oil behavior. The trajectory is mainly governed by the velocity of the wind and the surface current. For the fate model, weathering effects of advection, spreading, evaporation, emulsification, and shoreline interaction were included. Finally, An oil spill accident happened in the Pearl River Estuary of Guangdong Province of China was hindcasted and compared with the observed data as a case study. The simulation results indicated that the oil spill models proposed could give reasonable estimation of the trajectory of spilled oil.