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油井来说，灾难性地失去遏制并随后迅速释放大量潜在的有毒或爆炸性气体的风险非常小。这种风险可以通过工程来最小化，但规划必须解决将此类事件置于控制之下的方法，同时将对人和环境的风险降至最低。此类事件的应急计划和风险评估依赖于有关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扩散。 这项研究的主要目标是开发一种高精度、最先进的计算建模方法，以表征气体羽流在水柱中上升时的行为。该模型将用于模拟气体在水柱中的扩散和溶解，目的是更好地了解气体进入大气时的数量及其物理化学性质。这些信息对于应对空中烟羽造成的风险和规划适当的应对措施至关重要。研究成果将细化近海油气行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.