- Author
- Evans, D. D. | Mulholland, G. W. | Gross, D. | Baum, H. R. | Saito, K.
- Title
- Generation and Dispersal of Smoke From Oil Spill Combustion.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD Kentucky Univ., Lexington
- Book or Conf
- American Petroleum Institute, Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Coast Guard. Oil Spill Conference: Prevention, Behavior, Control, Cleanup, 1989. February 13-16, 1989, San Antonio, TX, 181-186 p., 1989
- Keywords
- oil spills | crude oil | smoke | generation | smoke emissions | cleaning | pool fires
- Abstract
- This study is directed at understanding the oil spill combustion process, the smoke generated from the burning, and the dispersal of this smoke in the atmosphere. Measurements of the two phases of 1.2 m diameter Murban crude oil pool fires show an initial steady energy release rate of 840 kWlm2, which increases to 1,860 wKlm2 during the vigorous burning associated with boiling of the water sublayer. During the burning of the crude oil pools approximately 10 percent of the crude oil was converted to smoke with a high elemental carbon content in excess of 90 percent. Extensive measurements of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) components found in the original oil showed that soot produced in the burning process carried a different distribution of PAH compounds, but that the total concentration of these compounds was equal to that found in the original crude oil. The results of an analysis are presented that quantifies the weakening of buoyancy in the smoke plume with altitude and the bending of the plume by ambient winds. The model described can be used to calculate realistic dispersion of oil spill smoke with moderate size computing resources.