Development and verification of deep-water blowout models

Modeling of deep-water releases of gas and oil involves conventional plume theory in combination with thermodynamics and mass transfer calculations. The discharges can be understood in terms of multiphase plumes, where gas bubbles and oil droplets may separate from the water phase of the plume and rise to the surface independently. The gas may dissolve in the ambient water and/or form gas hydrates––a solid state of water resembling ice. All these processes will tend to deprive the plume as such of buoyancy, and in stratified water the plume rise will soon terminate. Slick formation will be governed by the surfacing of individual oil droplets in a depth and time variable current. This situation differs from the conditions observed during oil-and-gas blowouts in shallow and moderate water depths. In such cases, the bubble plume has been observed to rise to the surface and form a strong radial flow that contributes to a rapid spreading of the surfacing oil. The theories and behaviors involved in deepwater blowout cases are reviewed and compared to those for the shallow water blowout cases.