To main content

Modelling of oil thickness in the presence of an ice edge

Abstract

Oil slick thickness is a key parameter for the behaviour of oil spilled at sea. It influences evaporation and entrainment, viable response options, and the risk to marine life at the surface. Determining this value is therefore of high relevance in oil spill modelling. In open water, oil can spread as thin films due to gravity alone, and may be further dispersed by horizontal diffusion and differential advection. In the presence of ice, however, a thin oil slick may become concentrated to higher thickness, if compressed against the ice edge.

In the present study, we develop a simple model for the thickness of oil forced against a barrier by a current. We compare our theory to flume experiments, and obtain reasonable agreement. We describe an implementation in a Lagrangian oil spill model, and present some examples. We discuss the operational applicability, and suggest further research needs.
Read the publication

Category

Academic article

Language

English

Author(s)

Affiliation

  • SINTEF Ocean / Climate and Environment
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Diverse norske bedrifter og organisasjoner

Date

23.05.2020

Year

2020

Published in

Marine Pollution Bulletin

ISSN

0025-326X

Volume

156

Page(s)

1 - 7

View this publication at Norwegian Research Information Repository