RAPID: Collaborative Research: Multiscale plume modeling of the Deepwater Horizon oil-well blowout for environmental impact assessment and mitigation

RAPID：协作研究：深水地平线油井井喷的多尺度羽流建模，用于环境影响评估和缓解

• 批准号: 1045831
• 负责人: Scott Socolofsky
• 金额: $ 3.74万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2010
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2010-08-15 至 2012-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1045831&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RAPID; Collaborative; Research; Multiscale; plume

The subsurface plume from the Deepwater Horizon (DH) accidental oil-well blowout is a complex, layered system of intrusions containing oil, dissolved hydrocarbons, and injected dispersants that will have far-reaching environmental consequences; however, no modeling tools are currently producing highly-resolved predictions of the plume structure and evolution. The goal of this Rapid Response Research Proposal (RAPID) is to develop a three-dimensional, multiscale hydrodynamic model for the DH blowout plume that combines the Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) modeling approach with the method of large-eddy simulation (LES). The resulting model platform will be validated to field and laboratory data, will respect the relevant chemistry and thermodynamics of the released oil and natural gas, and will be forced by the measured ambient conditions surrounding the spill. Such a simulation tool is urgently needed to guide field observations, predict the onshore migration and loop-current capture of the spilled oil, assess the effectiveness and potential environment impact of dispersants injected at the source, and to understand the response to this event already measured in the vertical migration of plankton and fish. The validated modeling platform will be developed through complementary laboratory experiments, numerical modeling, and analysis of field data. The laboratory experiments will evaluate the effects of currents as the flow through the plume and pull oil and dissolved constituents into the wake of the plume. The numerical methods will utilize a very large eddy simulation (VLES) to resolve the dominant plume structures in the near field of the blowout plume and will nest this model in a far-field model based on the unsteady RANS approach. Field data from acoustic Doppler current profilers will provide model forcing and validation data and will also be analyzed to understand the role of subsurface plume dynamics on the vertical migration of plankton and fish as also recorded in the ADCP data. Early analysis of this data shows a very rapid shut-down of the diurnal vertical migration pattern at nearby stations shortly after the start of the spill. This is the first documented environmental response to the blowout, and it remains unknown whether this is due to mortality, avoidance, light penetration changes or other processes. The sub-surface plume model developed here will provide detailed predictions of the subsurface plume structure necessary to analyze this environmental response. Intellectual Merit: The primary intellectual merit of the project will be an understanding of the critical physical and chemical processes in an accidental oil-well blowout that lead to the subsurface layered structure of oil and dissolved hydrocarbons in the water column. Important insight will also be gained on the appropriateness of a classical RANS model for predicting the dynamics of the oil and gas intrusions. Broader Impact: Predictions from the model will help guide the collection of observation data in the field and will be applied to understand why plankton and fish in the vicinity of the blowout shut down their vertical migration pattern shortly after the blowout. The model is also needed to predict the transport of oil and injected dispersants throughout the Gulf ecosystem, including onshore and into the loop current and potentially into the Atlantic ocean. Detailed studies of turbulence in multiphase plumes conducted in the later stages of the project will ultimately result in a reliable model framework featuring a zonal RANS-VLES simulation tool applicable to a wide range of environmental applications of multiphase plumes, including CO2 sequestration, lake aeration, and sediment plumes, among others.

来自深水地平线（DH）意外油孔井喷的地下羽流是一种复杂的，含油，溶解的碳氢化合物和注入的分散剂的复杂，分层的系统，这些系统将带来深远的环境后果；但是，目前尚无建模工具对羽状结构和进化的高度分辨的预测。 这项快速响应研究建议（快速）的目的是为DH井喷式羽流开发三维的多尺度流体动力模型，该模型将Reynolds平均Navier Stokes（RANS）建模方法与大型模拟方法（LES）相结合。 最终的模型平台将被验证为现场数据和实验室数据，将尊重释放的石油和天然气的相关化学和热力学，并将受到溢出周围测量的环境条件的强迫。 迫切需要这种模拟工具来指导现场观察，预测溢出油的陆上迁移和环流捕获，评估注入来源注入的分散物的有效性和潜在环境影响，并了解已经测量的此事件的响应在浮游生物和鱼的垂直迁移中。 经过验证的建模平台将通过补充实验室实验，数值建模和现场数据分析来开发。 实验室实验将评估当流经羽流的流动并将油和溶解成分拉到羽流中时电流的影响。 数值方法将利用一个非常大的涡流模拟（VLE）来解决井喷羽流的近场中的主要羽流结构，并将基于不稳定的Rans方法中的远场模型中嵌套该模型。 来自声学多普勒当前介质者的现场数据将提供模型强迫和验证数据，还将进行分析，以了解地下羽流动力学对浮游生物和FISH垂直迁移的作用，以及ADCP数据中还记录。 对该数据的早期分析表明，溢出开始后不久，附近车站的昼夜垂直迁移模式非常快速地关闭。 这是对井喷的第一个记录的环境反应，这是否是由于死亡率，避免，渗透变化或其他过程所致。 此处开发的地下羽流模型将提供分析该环境响应所需的地下羽状结构的详细预测。 智力优点：该项目的主要智力优点将是对意外的油井井喷中关键物理和化学过程的理解，这导致水柱中的油和溶解的碳氢化合物的地下分层结构。 重要的见解还将获得经典兰斯模型的适当性，以预测石油和天然气侵入的动态。 更广泛的影响：该模型的预测将有助于指导现场的观察数据收集，并将应用于井喷附近的浮游生物和鱼类在井喷附近关闭其垂直迁移模式的原因。 还需要该模型来预测整个海湾生态系统（包括陆上和循环电流）以及潜在进入大西洋的运输。 在项目后期进行的多相羽流中的湍流的详细研究最终将导致可靠的模型框架，其中包含适用于多种环境羽毛的各种环境应用，包括二氧化碳，湖泊曝气，湖泊曝气，湖泊曝气，，湖泊李子的广泛环境应用，和沉积物羽毛等。