ABSTRACT

There has been a revolutionary development in the methodology of design

and analysis of engineering systems over the past 30 years, mainly because
of the digital computer, which possesses capabilities for calculation at break-
neck speeds, for storing information, and for making decisions according to
pre-programmed criteria. In the field of fluid dynamics, the computer has been
posing a serious challenge to the wind tunnel in providing an understanding of
fluid flow phenomena.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has grown from a mathematical

curiosity to become an essential tool in almost every branch of fluid dynamics,
from aerospace propulsion to weather prediction. CFD is commonly accepted
as referring to the broad topic encompassing the numerical solution, by
computational methods, of the governing equations which describe fluid flow,
the set of the Navier-Stokes equations, continuity and any additional
conservation equations, for example energy or species concentrations.

This paper will illustrate the application of Computational Fluid Dynamics

to simulate the dispersion of contaminants in the ocean. Finally the results of
the test that were carried out are also discussed.
 INTRODUCTION

The subject Computational Fluid Dynamics needs both a high-speed computer

and efficient computational methods. It will, therefore, not be out of place to
review and discuss the first development that took place to bring the subject to
the current status .This is said to be composed of mainly of three elements: fluid -
dynamic theory, applied mathematics, and computers.

According to Graves, Jr. (1982),’Newton gave us the first real insight and
mathematical formulation of the basic laws of the fluid motion ‘, for
example ,concepts leading to modern hypersonic theory and speed of sound,
and the concept of viscous shear stress proportional to the velocity gradient in
the transverse direction . ‘Mathematical modeling of ideal fluids progressed
expansively after Newton under the intellects of such notables as D’Alembert,
Euler, and Lagrange, and Helmholtz’.

According to Chapman (1979), there are several compelling reasons to

vigorously develop computational fluid dynamics. Firstly, because of decrease in
relative computation cost and better algorithms, there has been an extra-ordinary
cost reduction, whereas the cost of experiments is increasing steadily.
Experimentation has become increasingly both expensive and time consuming.
Secondly, even after very long hours of experimentation, the results are often
doubtful, and for such cases, a computer provides with a powerful, independent
research tool to gain new technological capabilities. Thus, the subject
Computational Fluid Dynamics has come to stay as one of the most important
subjects.

The present paper describes the simulation of contaminants in open ocean

water .The discharge of these contaminants through submerged headers
develop plume due to presence of moderate currents. CFD has been applied to
develop a model for assessing the potential impact of operations in offshore oil
platforms.
 BASICS

What is CFD?

CFD is predicting what will happen, quantitatively, when fluids flow, often
with the complications of:

 Simultaneous flow of heat,

 Mass transfer (e.g. perspiration, dissolution)

 Phase change (e.g. melting, freezing, boiling)

 Chemical reaction (e.g. combustion, rusting)

 Mechanical movement (e.g. of pistons, fans, rudders)

 Stresses in and displacement of immersed or surrounding solids

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is the use of computers to analyse

problems in fluid dynamics.The most fundamental consideration in CFD is how
one treats a continuous fluid in a discretized fashion on a computer. One method
is to discretize the spatial domain into small cells to form a volume mesh or grid,
and then apply a suitable algorithm to solve the equations of motion (Euler
equations for inviscid, and Navier-Stokes equations for viscid flow). In addition,
such a mesh can be either irregular (for instance consisting of triangles in 2D, or
pyrmidal solids in 3D) or regular; the distinguishing characteristic of the former is
that each cell must be stored separately in memory. Lastly, if the problem is
highly dynamic and occupies a wide range of scales, the grid itself can be
dynamically modified in time, as in adaptive mesh refinement methods.

If one chooses not to proceed with a grid-based method, a number of alternatives

exist, noteably :smoothed particle hydrodynamics, a Lagrangian method of
solving fluid problems,
  spectral methods, a technique where the equations are projected onto
basis functions like the spherical harmonics and Chebyshev polynomials
 Lattice Boltzmann Methods

Navier-Stokes equations, named after Cluade-Louis Navier and Gorge

Gabriel-Stokes are a set of nonlinear partial diffremtial equations that describe
the flow of fluids such as liquids and gases. NS equations assume that the fluid is
a continum. They are coservation equation over a control volume which we will
call Ω, which keeps the portion of the fluid which is studied.

Before going into the details of the Navier-Stokes equations, one must first

define an operator:

This is the usual time derivative, but when following a particle of the fluid. The full

form is:

The integral form of a conservation law L over the control volume Ω is:

Using the particular derivative, one can swap the and operators:

As this expression is valid for all Ω, it simplifies to:

Conservation laws:The NS equations are derived from conservation laws using

the transformation described above and need to be closed using state laws.
Over a control volume, using the transformation described above, the following
quantities are deemed conserved:

 Mass
 Energy
 Momentum
 Moment of momentum or Anugular momentum

Equation of continuity

Conservation of mass is written:

where,ρ is the density of the fluid.

In the case of an incompressible fluid ρ is not a function of time; the equation is

reduced to:

Conservation of momentum

Conservation of momentum is written:

Note that is a tensor, the representing the tensor product

We can simplify it further, this becomes:

In which we recognise the usual F=ma.

The general form of the Navier-Stokes equations is:

For the conservation of momentum. The tensor represents the surface forces
applied on a fluid particle. In general, we have the
form:

To which we add the continuity equation:

The nature of the diagonal of is known, it is the gradient of pressure, thus:

where , p is the pressure

finally, we have:

where the components of are the τ of .

Methodology

The discretization methods:

 Finte volume method :The "classical" or standard approach used most

often in commercial software and research codes. The governing
equations are solved on discrete control volumes. This integral approach
yields a method that is inherently conservative (i.e., quantities such as
density remain physically meaningful).
 Finte element method :This method is popular for structural analysis of
solids, but also has applicable to fluids. The FEM formulation requires,
however, special care to ensure a conservative solution.
 Finte difference : This method has historical importance and is simple to
program. It is currently only used in few specialized codes.
  Boundary element method :The boundary occupied by the fluid is divided
into surface mesh.

Application of CFD to find the Dispersion of Contaminants in the

Ocean
Abstract

The present work describes the simulation of contaminants in open ocean

waters. An aqueous mixture of contaminants is released from offshore oil
platforms through submerged headers several meters below the surface. The
discharge results in the development of a submerged plume due to the presence
of moderate currents. Its initial momentum, concentrations, temperature and,
specially, the gradients of temperature and concentration in the ocean layer
influence plume behavior, to which the plume trajectory and leveling depth
showed to be extremely sensitive. Three classes of components were
considered: dissolved salts, floating particles and sinking particles.

This work was dedicated to the development of a model for assessing the
potential impact of operations in offshore oil platforms. The focus of these
simulations was the release of an aqueous solution resulting from the pre-
treatment of petroleum. The expected results will allow a systematic analysis of
the problem and the evaluation of the need and options for solutions.

Description of the system and modelling

Geometry and Grid

The region of interest was the ocean layers downstream the release point.
It was considered for the development of the model that the ocean floor was flat
and at constant depth. The submerged fraction of the platform was disregarded
for the sake of simplicity, being the header the only structure reproduced in the
simulation because of its great influence in the near field of the release. Figure 1
illustrates the simulation geometry.
 0.25 m/s
23oC
 = 1.27 m 39 m

100 m
0.1 m/s
@ 65oC, 100 psu

0.15 m/s
15oC Ocean floor

Figure 1 – Geometry of the release

Simulation was assumed symmetric in the plane defined by the header centerline
and stream direction, allowing the domain size to be cut by half.
The domain was composed by very distinct regions. In the near field (i.e. closer
to the source), the grid should be well refined in order to cope with the
dimensions of the header and the aggressive shifts in plume behavior and
turbulence effects. In the far field, the grid could be coarser to save
computational effort. Increasing cell sizes from the release point to the limits of
the domain was set therein.

Properties

Density: The liquid released consists of a mixture of salt water, lighter and
heavier than seawater oils dispersed in small concentrations. The salinity of the
effluent is much higher than that of the sea and so is its temperature.
Because of its low concentrations, it was considered that the oil fractions would
not interfere in this calculation, resulting in an expression for the density
depending only on the temperature and concentration of salt.

Eq. 2.1
Eq. 2.2
0 Eq. 2.3
Diffusion: Considering the nature of the flow and the dimensions of the domain,
laminar diffusive effects could be neglected. Nevertheless, the diffusion variable
was manipulated in order to achieve the expected spread of the contaminants
due to turbulence and mixing in the edges of the plume.

Sources and Environmental conditions

Sinking and Floating: The oil droplets were not simulated as dispersed
phases. Instead, they were introduced by means of the concentration variables
C1 and C5, from which the diffusion effects were eliminated.
Sinking and floating were therefore represented by a source equation resulting
from the mass balance in each cell, as illustrated by the following figure and
equation. This source was programmed in GROUND.

C1H Eq. 2.4

Z

C1L

Figure 2 – Mass balance for the finite volume due to sinking.

The terminal settling velocity, V1o, was estimated using traditional models from
the literature [2].

Stream Profile: The stream profile is an extremely important factor. It is know

from oceanographic research that the temperature, salinity and velocity along a
vertical line can vary substantially. This phenomenon may lead to well know
effects such as thermal inversion or thermocline. For the development of the
model, a constant salinity was used, while temperature and velocity were
assumed to have linear profiles from the bottom to the surface. This corresponds
to a moderately stratified environment, i.e. reduced vertical streams and
consequently reduced mixing of the plume (which is a conservative approach to
the problem).
Results
Due to the difficulties in obtaining good experimental data with extensive
concentration profiles along the dispersion region, the validation of the models,
specifically for the diffusion, was achieved in reference to the dilution curve of the
system. This curve represents the decaying ratio of the maximum concentration
of the plume as a function of the distance from the release point.
Post processing software was used to interpret the PHI file and retrieve
the maximum concentration points at each cross section of the plume. By
dividing each of these values by the concentration of the effluent, the dilution
curve for simulation is obtained.
Data from literature [1] was presented in two distinct environmental conditions:
unstable density layers (greatest dilution) and stable-stratified layers (less
dilution). Geometry from the related experiment is very similar to that described
in Item 2.1. Figure 3 presents the validation simulation in comparison to
experimental data.
Validation
Dilution Ratio

Validação
600

500

400
FD

300

200 Simulação
Simulation
Unstable
Meta mist.
100
Meta estrat.
Stable
0
0 40 80 120 160
Distance
Dis tância (m)
(m )

Figure 3 – Validation of the model with experimental data from literature

It can be seen that the simulation curve lies between the two experimental
curves, what is totally reasonable considering the intermediate environmental
condition used.
Concentration profiles were similar for the three types of contaminants. This
represents the reduced influence of sinking or floating of particulate matter, for
the concentrations and density differences used. Below is the concentration
profile for each contaminant, where the generic aspect of the plume can be
noticed.

C1 C3

C5

Figure 4 – Concentration profiles for each contaminant

The initial momentum ceases very soon after the release. The following sinking
of the entire plume occurs because of its higher density comparing to the
surroundings. As turbulent mixing vanishes, the dilution ratio tends to stabilize. At
this moment, the plume will start seeking for the layer that can suit its own
density better. This process may cause the plume to stabilize in different depths,
depending on the density profile of the water body. Some more dilution may
occur in this stage, after which concentration changes will tend to be diffusion
driven only.

Conclusions
The simulation of a submerged contaminant plume in the ocean was presented.
The development of this model involved several particular models, which were
introduced in PHOENICS through GROUND.
The results showed reasonable quantitative agreement with experimental data
and good qualitative behaviour. The simulation served as an important tool for
understanding the sensibility of the plume to operational and environmental
conditions. One of the most important conclusions of this study is that the
maximum concentration falls to acceptable values very shortly after the source
point.

Nomenclature
C1 - normalized concentration of heavy oil droplets
C3 - normalized salinity
C5 - normalized concentration of light oil droplets
T - Temperature, oC
To - reference temperature, oC
TFAL - false time step, s
V1o - terminal settling velocity for the heavy oil droplets, m/s
v - Resulting velocity of fluid in cell, m/s
X - Minimum dimension of the cell, m

Z - Thickness of the cell in vertical direction, m

,,’, ’, ’, ’ - constants

 - Density, kg/m3

o - Reference density, kg/m3

 - Density variation, kg/m3

Bibliography:

Computational fluid dynamics, by Tarit Kumar Bose

Paper by André Luiz da Fonseca Fadel1, João Tornovsky2 and Flávio
Martins de Queiroz Guimarães2
8th international PHOENICS user conference , www.cham.co.uk

Wikipedia, free encyclopedia.