Determination of the Thermal Efficiency of Pre-boilover Burning of a Slick of Oil on Water

Importance of the slick thickness for effective in-situ burning of crude oil

“…The initial slick thickness at which the constant value is approached varies for each individual oil (10-20 mm for n-octane, 10-20 mm for dodecane, 20-40 mm for REBCO and 20-40 mm for Grane), but it is always larger or equal to 10 mm. This is in accordance with previous reported studies and the trend in model predictions [10,25,28,29]. The low regression rates for slick thicknesses below 10 mm can be explained by heat losses to the underlying water layer [10,28].…”

“…This is in accordance with previous reported studies and the trend in model predictions [10,25,28,29]. The low regression rates for slick thicknesses below 10 mm can be explained by heat losses to the underlying water layer [10,28]. As the oil functions as an insulating layer between the burning surface and the water surface, a thicker initial slick decreases the heat losses to the water, which in turn causes the regression rate to increase.…”

“…The obtained maximum values lie within the same order of magnitude as the model predictions and regression rates for pool fires of similar n-alkanes reported in literature [31,32]. The maximum regression rate that an oil can reach is determined by its characteristics (mainly the B-number, also known as the mass transfer number [33,34]) and the pool diameter [23,25,28,29].…”

“…While heat transfer models have been used to accommodate for oil-water interface interactions (e.g. [27,28]), the uncertainties remained significant. The COFA setup was verified against large scale field experiment data from Brandvik et al [15].…”

“…Modelled predictions of the regression rates for n-octane, dodecane and crude oil are also shown, using the model developed by Garo et al [28] and Torero et al [29] (equation (1)). The average experimental regression rate was calculated from the BE and burning time (from ignition to flame extinction).…”