The Deep-Water-Horizon Spill: Flow-Rate Estimation Based on Satellite Images

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Garcia Giraldo ◽  
Ronald W. Yeung
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Imaging Spectrometer ◽  
Riser Pipe ◽  
Oil Flow ◽  
Plume Modeling ◽  
Drilling Unit

The “Deep Water Horizon” Mobil Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) is one of several classes of floatable drilling machines. As a consequence of the accident on April 20, 2010, the worst ecological disaster with regard to oil spills in the US history was generated in the Gulf of Mexico, causing extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats, as well as the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industries. Since that moment, experts are trying to estimate the total amount of oil being lost into the sea. The objective of this presentation is to report a procedure developed in the first author’s thesis1 an independent and logical estimate of the oil flow rate into the Gulf of Mexico produced by the rupture in this rig. There are a number of possible approaches to estimate the flow rate of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico. The Plume Modeling Team has developed an approach by observing video image of the oil/gas mixture escaping from the kinks in the riser and the end of the riser pipe. The Mass Balance Team has developed a range of values using USGS (US Geological Survey) and NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) data analysis collected from NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS). Finally, a reality-check estimate was based on the amount of oil collected by the Riser Insertion Tube Tool (RITT) plus the estimate of how much oil is escaping from the RITT, and from the kink in the riser. However, there are several limitations in each of these techniques.

The 2010 Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico: Flow-Rate Estimation Based on Satellite-Images Analysis

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Garcia Giraldo ◽  
Ronald W. Yeung
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Upper And Lower Bounds ◽  
Constant Thickness ◽  
Simple Method ◽  
Oil Flow ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

The Deepwater Horizon Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) was one of several classes of floatable drilling machines. The explosion on April 20, 2010 led to the worst ecological disaster with regard to oil spills in the USA. The objective of this paper is to develop a logical and independent estimate of the oil flow rate into the Gulf of Mexico produced by the rupture in this rig. We employed the NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite photographs [1] starting from the days immediately following the disaster to determine the size and intensity of the oil spill. From these images, we obtained the surface area of the oil spill and calculated the oil flow rate by two different methods based on contrasting luminance within the area. The first assumes a constant thickness for the total area with upper and lower bounds for the thickness. The second method separates the spill area into different patches, based on the luminance levels of each. It was found that the probability density function (PDF) of the luminance plots typically showed some natural grouping, allowing patches to be defined. Each patch maps to a specific thickness and the result of the addition of all the patches provides a more accurate average thickness of the spill. With the assumption that evaporation and other loss amounted to 40% of the spill, we obtained, as a result of this analysis procedure, a minimum flow rate of 9,300 barrels per day and a maximum of 93,000 barrels per day using the first method. A value of 51,200 barrels per day was obtained using the method based on patch separation. This latter estimate was a reasonable value obtained based on this relatively simple method but with no details presented in an Extended Abstract in OMAE2012 [4]. It is remarkably consistent with the “official US-Govt. estimates” of [2, 3].

MODELING DEEPWATER OIL SPILLS WITH NEAR FIELD AND FAR FIELD MODELS

2005 ◽  
Vol 2005 (1) ◽  
pp. 725-730
Author(s):  
Zhen-Gang Ji ◽  
Walter R. Johnson ◽  
Charles F. Marshall ◽  
James M. Price
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Field Model ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Near Field ◽  
Far Field ◽  
Oil Gas ◽  
The U.S

ABSTRACT As a Federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the Minerals Management Service (MMS) maintains a leasing program for commercial oil and gas development on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Oil and gas activities in deep water (areas deeper than 340 meters) have proceeded at an unprecedented rate, and have led to concerns regarding the accidental release of oil near the seafloor. As production increases, the potential for an oil/gas spill increases. In addition to the environmental impacts of the oil spilled, major concerns from a deepwater oil/gas spill include fire, toxic hazard to the people working on the surface installations, and loss of buoyancy by ships and any floating installations. Oil and natural gas releases in deep water behave much differently than in shallow water, primarily due to density stratification, high pressures, and low temperatures. It is important to know whether oil will surface and if so, where, when, and how thick the oil slick will be. To meet these new challenges, spill response plans need to be upgraded. An important component of such a plan would be a model to simulate the behavior of oil and gasses accidentally released in deep water. This has significant implications for environmental impact assessment, oil-spill cleanup, contingency planning, and source tracing. The MMS uses the Clarkson Deepwater Oil and Gas Blowout (CDOG) plume model to simulate the behavior of oil and gas accidentally released in deepwater areas. The CDOG model is a near field model. In addition, MMS uses an adaptation of the Princeton Ocean Model called the Princeton Regional Ocean Forecast and Hindcast System for the Gulf of Mexico (PROFS-GOM). This model is a far field model and is employed to provide three dimensional current, temperature, and salinity data to the CDOG model. The PROFS-GOM model and the CDOG model are used to simulate deepwater oil spills in the Gulf of Mexico. Modeling results indicate that the two models can provide important information on the behavior of oil spills in deepwater and assist MMS in estimating the associated environmental risks. Ultimately, this information will be used in the pertinent environmental impact assessments MMS performs and in the development of deepwater oil-spill response plans.

scholarly journals Hydrocarbon Pollution Detection and Mapping Based on the Combination of Various Hyperspectral Imaging Processing Tools

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 1020
Author(s):  
Véronique Achard ◽  
Pierre-Yves Foucher ◽  
Dominique Dubucq
Keyword(s):  
Anomaly Detection ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Oil Pollution ◽  
Spectral Unmixing ◽  
Controlled Experiment ◽  
Spectral Indices ◽  
Imaging Spectrometer ◽  
First Case

Oil extraction and transportation may lead to small or large scale accidental spills, whether at sea or on land. Detecting these spills is a major problem that can be addressed by means of hyperspectral images and specific processing methods. In this work, several cases of onshore oil spills are studied. First, a controlled experiment was carried out: four boxes containing soil or sand mixed with crude oil or gasoil were deployed on the ONERA site near Fauga, France, and were overflown by HySpex hyperspectral cameras. Owing to this controlled experiment, different detection strategies were developed and tested, with a particular focus on the most automated methods requiring the least supervision. The methods developed were then applied to two very different cases: mapping of the shoreline contaminated due to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) platform based on AVIRIS images (AVIRIS: Airborne Visible/InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer), and detection of a tar pit on a former oil exploration site. The detection strategy depends on the type of oil, light or heavy, recently or formerly spilled, and on the substrate. In the first case (controlled experiment), the proposed methods included spectral index calculations, anomaly detection and spectral unmixing. In the case of DWH, spectral indices were computed and the unmixing method was tested. Finally, to detect the tar pit, a strategy based on anomaly detection and spectral indices was applied. In all the cases studied, the proposed methods were successful in detecting and mapping the oil pollution.

The 2010 Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico: Flow-Rate Estimation Based on Satellite-Images Analysis1

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Garcia Giraldo ◽  
Ronald W. Yeung
Keyword(s):  
Oil Spill ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Drill Pipe ◽  
Upper And Lower Bounds ◽  
Constant Thickness ◽  
A Value ◽  
Oil Flow ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Drilling Unit ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer

Abstract The Deepwater Horizon Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) was one of several classes of floatable drilling systems. The explosion on April 20, 2010 led to fatalities and the worst oil spill in the U.S. We present an independent estimate of the oil-flow rate into The Gulf caused by the drill-pipe rupture. We employed the NASA Moderate-Resolution Imaging-Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite photographs, starting from the days immediately following the disaster, to determine the magnitude of spill. From these images, we obtained the surface area of the spill and calculated the oil flow rate by two different methods based on contrasting luminance within that area. The first assumes a constant thickness for the total area with upper and lower bounds for the thickness. The second separates the area into different patches based on the luminance levels of each. The probability density function (PDF) of such luminance plots showed natural groupings, allowing patches be identifiable. Each patch maps to a specific thickness. This second approach provides a more accurate average thickness. With the assumption that evaporation and other loss amounted to ∼40% of the spill, we obtained, from the first method, a flow rate ranging from 9,300 barrels per day (BPD) to 93,000 BPD. A value of 51,200 BPD was obtained using patch-separation method. This latter estimate was a plausible value, obtained from the current analysis, but with no details presented in an Extended Abstract in OMAE2012, is remarkably consistent with the “official U.S.-Govt. estimates.”

scholarly journals Study of Injection Method for Maximizing Oil-Cooling Performance of Electric Vehicle Motor with Hairpin Winding

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 747
Author(s):  
Taewook Ha ◽  
Dong Kyu Kim
Keyword(s):  
Electric Vehicle ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Film Formation ◽  
Formation Rate ◽  
Cooling Performance ◽  
Oil Film ◽  
Injection Method ◽  
Cooling Method ◽  
Oil Flow ◽  
Oil Injection

The oil injection method was studied to maximize the cooling performance of an electric vehicle motor with a hairpin winding. The cooling performance of the motor using the oil cooling method is proportional to the contact area of the oil and the coil. A numerical analysis was conducted to examine the effect of the spray nozzle type on the oil flow. The dripping nozzle forms the thickest oil film on the coil, making it the most effective for cooling of hairpin-type motors. Subsequently, an experimental study was conducted to optimize the nozzle diameter and number of nozzles. When the inlet diameter and number was 6.35 mm and 6, the oil film formation rate was 53%, yielding the most uniform oil film. Next, an experiment was performed to investigate the effects of the oil temperature and flow rate on the oil flow. The oil film formation rate was the highest (83%) when the oil temperature was 40 °C and the flow rate was 6 LPM.

scholarly journals The short life of the volcanic island New Late’iki (Tonga) analyzed by multi-sensor remote sensing data

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Plank ◽  
Francesco Marchese ◽  
Nicola Genzano ◽  
Michael Nolde ◽  
Sandro Martinis
Keyword(s):  
Infrared Imaging ◽  
Rapid Change ◽  
Monitoring Network ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Volcanic Island ◽  
Imaging Spectrometer ◽  
Remote Areas ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Satellite Sensors ◽  
Resolution Imaging

AbstractSatellite-based Earth observation plays a key role for monitoring volcanoes, especially those which are located in remote areas and which very often are not observed by a terrestrial monitoring network. In our study we jointly analyzed data from thermal (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer MODIS and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite VIIRS), optical (Operational Land Imager and Multispectral Instrument) and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) (Sentinel-1 and TerraSAR-X) satellite sensors to investigate the mid-October 2019 surtseyan eruption at Late’iki Volcano, located on the Tonga Volcanic Arc. During the eruption, the remains of an older volcanic island formed in 1995 collapsed and a new volcanic island, called New Late’iki was formed. After the 12 days long lasting eruption, we observed a rapid change of the island’s shape and size, and an erosion of this newly formed volcanic island, which was reclaimed by the ocean two months after the eruption ceased. This fast erosion of New Late’iki Island is in strong contrast to the over 25 years long survival of the volcanic island formed in 1995.

scholarly journals Role of Shearing Dispersion and Stripping in Wax Deposition in Crude Oil Pipelines

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 4325
Author(s):  
Zhihua Wang ◽  
Yunfei Xu ◽  
Yi Zhao ◽  
Zhimin Li ◽  
Yang Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Crude Oil ◽  
Flow Rate ◽  
Critical Flow ◽  
Wax Deposition ◽  
Dominant Effect ◽  
Critical Flow Rate ◽  
Oil Pipelines ◽  
Oil Flow ◽  
Shearing Mechanism

Wax deposition during crude oil transmission can cause a series of negative effects and lead to problems associated with pipeline safety. A considerable number of previous works have investigated the wax deposition mechanism, inhibition technology, and remediation methods. However, studies on the shearing mechanism of wax deposition have focused largely on the characterization of this phenomena. The role of the shearing mechanism on wax deposition has not been completely clarified. This mechanism can be divided into the shearing dispersion effect caused by radial migration of wax particles and the shearing stripping effect caused by hydrodynamic scouring. From the perspective of energy analysis, a novel wax deposition model was proposed that considered the flow parameters of waxy crude oil in pipelines instead of its rheological parameters. Considering the two effects of shearing dispersion and shearing stripping coexist, with either one of them being the dominant mechanism, a shearing dispersion flux model and a shearing stripping model were established. Furthermore, a quantitative method to distinguish between the roles of shearing dispersion and shearing stripping in wax deposition was developed. The results indicated that the shearing mechanism can contribute an average of approximately 10% and a maximum of nearly 30% to the wax deposition process. With an increase in the oil flow rate, the effect of the shearing mechanism on wax deposition is enhanced, and its contribution was demonstrated to be negative; shear stripping was observed to be the dominant mechanism. A critical flow rate was observed when the dominant effect changes. When the oil flow rate is lower than the critical flow rate, the shearing dispersion effect is the dominant effect; its contribution rate increases with an increase in the oil flow temperature. When the oil flow rate is higher than the critical flow rate, the shearing stripping effect is the dominant effect; its contribution rate increases with an increase in the oil flow temperature. This understanding can be used to design operational parameters of the actual crude oil pipelines and address the potential flow assurance problems. The results of this study are of great significance for understanding the wax deposition theory of crude oil and accelerating the development of petroleum industry pipelines.

scholarly journals Impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on a deep-water coral community in the Gulf of Mexico

2012 ◽  
Vol 109 (50) ◽  
pp. 20303-20308 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. K. White ◽  
P.-Y. Hsing ◽  
W. Cho ◽  
T. M. Shank ◽  
E. E. Cordes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Oil Spill ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Deepwater Horizon ◽  
Coral Community ◽  
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill ◽  
Water Coral
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