Numerical Study of Containment of Spilled Medium-Viscosity Oil in Wave–Current Flow

Abstract

Offshore oil spills can greatly harm marine ecological environments. The containment boom is a simple and effective tool that can effectively prevent the spread of oil spills, reduce the oil-spreading region, and work with other recovery measures. In the study described, a two-dimensional multiphase model was developed to reproduce the oil containment process and to comprehensively investigate the water–oil boom interaction. Good agreement was achieved between the modeled and measured results in an application of the oil containment process with respect to variation in oil thickness. The verified model was then employed to investigate oil containment subject to waves and currents. In addition, the containment performance of floating booms with different skirt lengths, buoyancy/weight ratios, and boom shapes was investigated. The numerical results showed that boom motion can significantly change the flow field around the boom and thereby the boom’s containment effectiveness. Booms with arc-shaped or polyline-shaped skirts consistently exhibit satisfactory oil-controlling performance.