Modeling gas dispersion and dissolution during undersea gas blowouts using multiphase computational fluid dynamics

对于海上石油和天然气开采和回注威尔斯井，存在着非常小的灾难性泄漏风险，以及随后大量潜在有毒或爆炸性气体的快速释放。这种风险可以通过工程来最小化，但规划必须解决控制此类事件的方法，同时最大限度地减少对人和环境的风险。对这种事件的应急规划和风险评估依赖于关于释放气体行为的信息的可用性，最关键的是气体在水下和大气中的溶解和分散。 这项研究的主要目标是开发一种高度准确的，最先进的计算建模方法，以表征气体羽流的行为，因为它通过水柱上升。该模型将用于模拟气体在水柱中的扩散和溶解，最终目的是更好地了解气体进入大气层时的数量及其物理化学性质。这一信息对于处理空气中烟羽造成的风险和规划适当的应对措施至关重要。研究成果将细化海上石油和天然气工业环境风险管理的范围。

A very small risk of catastrophic loss of containment, and subsequent rapid release of large quantities of potentially toxic or explosive gases, exists for offshore oil and gas extraction and reinjection wells. This risk can be minimized by engineering, but planning must address the means to bring such an event under control, while minimizing the risk to people and the environment. Emergency planning and risk assessments for such an event rely on the availability of information about the behavior of released gas, most critically the dissolution and dispersion of the gas underwater and in the atmosphere. The primary objective of this research is to develop a highly accurate, state-of-the-art computational modeling approach to characterize the behaviour of the gas plume as it rises through the water column. The model will be used to simulate gas dispersion and gas dissolution in the water column, the endpoint being a better understanding of the gas quantity and its physicochemical properties as it enters the atmosphere. This information is critical in addressing the risk posed by the airborne plume, and in planning appropriate response measures. The research outcomes will refine the scope of environmental risk management in the offshore oil and gas industry.