FINAL Report
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A26866- Unrestricted FINAL Report Subsurface oil releases – Experimental study of droplet size distributions Phase-II A scaled experimental approach using the SINTEF Tower basin Authors Per Johan Brandvik, Øistein Johansen, Umer Farooq, Emlyn Davies, Dan Krause and Frode Leirvik. Oil alone 1% 2% Simulating subsurface releases in the SINTEF Tower basin with dispersant injection of Corexit C9500 and the waxy North Sea crude, Norne. SINTEF Materials and Chemistry Environmental Technology 2015-04-04 SINTEF Materials and Chemistry Environmental Technology 2015-04-04 Document history VERSION Final Unrestricted version afterwritten approval by API March 3rd 2015 Disclaimer: The statements, technical information, results, conclusions and recommendations contained herein are believed to be accurate as of the date hereof. Since any use of this information is beyond our control, SINTEF expressly disclaims all liability for any results obtained or arising from any use of this report or reliance on any information in this report. Recommended reference: Brandvik, P.J., Johansen, Ø., Farooq, U., Davies, E. Leirvik, F. and Krause, D. 2015: Subsurface oil releases – Experimental study of droplet size distributions Phase-II. A scaled experimental approach using the SINTEF Tower basin. Phase-II. SINTEF report no: A26866 (Unrestricted). Trondheim Norway 2015. ISBN: 9788214058406. This study has been funded by the American Petroleum Institute (API) under contract 2012-106765. PROJECT NO. REPORT NO. VERSION 2 of 74 102001616 A26866 Final Table of contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................. 5 2 Objectives ..................................................................................................................................... 6 3 Deliveries ...................................................................................................................................... 6 4 Experimental ................................................................................................................................. 7 4.1 Selection of oil types ...................................................................................................................... 7 4.2 Selection of dispersants ................................................................................................................. 8 4.3 Temperature controlled oil tanks .................................................................................................. 8 4.4 Overview SINTEF Tower basin ....................................................................................................... 9 4.5 Dispersant injection ..................................................................................................................... 11 5 Results ........................................................................................................................................ 14 5.1 Overview of experiments ............................................................................................................. 14 5.2 Calibration and documentation of uncertainty ........................................................................... 14 5.3 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of oil release temperature ............................................. 16 5.4 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of oil type and dispersant dosage .................................. 31 5.5 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of dispersant and oil type .............................................. 41 5.6 Mixed releases of oil and gas ....................................................................................................... 56 5.7 Studies of possible coalescence and droplet splitting ................................................................. 59 6 Discussions .................................................................................................................................. 63 6.1 Initial experiments ....................................................................................................................... 63 6.2 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of oil release temperature ............................................. 63 6.3 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of dispersant dosage ...................................................... 66 6.4 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of dispersant and oil type .............................................. 67 6.5 Mixed releases of oil and gas ....................................................................................................... 68 6.6 Coalescence studies ..................................................................................................................... 69 7 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 70 7.1 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of oil release temperature ............................................. 70 7.2 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of dispersant dosage ...................................................... 71 7.3 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of dispersant and oil type .............................................. 71 7.4 Mixed releases of oil and gas ....................................................................................................... 71 7.5 Coalescence studies ..................................................................................................................... 71 8 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... 72 8.1 Dispersant effectiveness as a function of oil release temperature ............................................. 72 8.2 Mixed releases of oil and gas ....................................................................................................... 72 9 References .................................................................................................................................. 73 PROJECT NO. REPORT NO. VERSION 3 of 74 102001616 A26866 Final APPENDICES Appendix A: Summary overview of all Tower Basin experiments. Appendix B: Experimental data: Numerical distributions of oil and oil/dispersant flow rates. Appendix C: Droplet formation in turbulent flow. PROJECT NO. REPORT NO. VERSION 4 of 74 102001616 A26866 Final 1 Introduction This is the second study performed by SINTEF for the American Petroleum Institute (API) on subsea releases of oil and gas and the effectiveness of dispersant injection. SINTEF performed the first study in 2012-13 and the main findings are reported in: "Sub-surface oil releases – Experimental study of droplet distributions and different dispersant injection techniques. A scaled experimental approach using the SINTEF Tower basin" (Brandvik et al., 2014). This study is referred to as "API D3 Phase-I". This report covers the main findings from the second study and is referred to as "API D3 Phase-II" and was funded by contract 2012-106765 and has later been extended by an amendment (August 2013). Phase-I mainly focused on more basic studies of droplet formation from subsea releases, effectiveness of dispersant injection and different injection techniques. Phase-II followed up some of the findings from Phase-I and focused on the effect of different dispersants, oil types, release temperature of the oil, mixed releases and possible coalescence in the highly concentrated plume close to the release point. PROJECT NO. REPORT NO. VERSION 5 of 74 102001616 A26866 Final 2 Objectives The main objectives with this study are to answer the following questions regarding dispersant injection during a subsea blowout: 1. How does the temperature of the released oil influence the droplet size distribution of the oil, both with and without injection of dispersants? 2. Does the presence of gas (air), released together with oil, influence the droplet size distribution of the oil, both with and without injection of dispersants? 3. How does dispersant effectiveness (measured by shift in droplet size distribution) vary as a function of oil properties (four different oil types), dispersant type (six different products) and dispersant dosage (six different dosages)? 3 Deliveries The final report from this Phase-I will include at least the following sections: 1. Description of test tank, measurement methods, etc. 2. Summary of the experiment test matrix. 3. Summary of data analysis with special emphasis on effectiveness of the different dispersant injection techniques, Dispersant to oil ratio (DOR), dispersant type and the effect on oil droplet size distribution. 4. Discussion of scaling the results from the Tower basin dispersant injection testing to field scale including an assessment of the confidence limits of such an extrapolation. 5. Summary of further research needs and opportunities. The main findings from this study will be published in a relevant peer reviewed scientific journal focusing on the effectiveness of the different dispersant injection techniques, the effect of dispersant dosage and different dispersant products and oil types. PROJECT NO. REPORT NO. VERSION 6 of 74 102001616 A26866 Final 4 Experimental This section contains a description of the experimental methods and the experimental work performed in this project. 4.1 Selection of oil types The experiments in Phase-I were performed with Oseberg blend, a crude