Numerical Simulation of Viscous Effects of Oil on the Capacity of Oil Booms

Abstract

The potential risk of oil spills is constantly increasing, which required special techniques, equipment and effective response plans as well. Oil booms is the most common equipment used for spilled oil clean-up. However, due to different reasons such as extreme hydrological conditions, unreasonable design or poor handling, the failure of booms can happen. The loss rate of boom is acceptable if it is small enough. In the present paper, the behavior of oil with different viscosity around the oil boom is numerically studied using ANSYS FLUENT software. The shape evolution of oil slicks is presented. The loss rates in given conditions are also determined.