CFD study of surface flow and gas dispersion from a subsea gas release

With increasing subsea oil and gas activities, the safety is challenged by accidental gas release. This can be caused by leakage from gas transport pipelines or blowouts from oil and gas wells. Risk assessment of such events is associated to the correct prediction of gas flux and gas distribution through the ocean surface and the resulting surface flows. A quantitative multiphase CFD model can satisfy such needs. Bubbles can be tracked by discrete phase model (DPM), using a parcel-based Lagrangian approach. Capturing the free surface formed by surfacing bubble plumes can be handled by a volume of fluid (VOF) model. This constitutes an Eulerian-Lagrangian model
framework combining the DPM and VOF models. The model is
presented and validated by experiments of a gas release in 7 m deep test basin. Results from modelling and experiments are consistent.