Development and application of oil spill model for Singapore coastal waters

Abstract

This paper presents the development and application of a three-dimensional oil spill model for predicting the movement and fate of an oil slick in the coastal waters of Singapore. In the model, the oil slick is divided into a number of small elements or grids for simulating of the oil processes of spreading, advection, turbulent diffusion. evaporation, dissolution, vertical dispersion, shoreline deposition and adsorption by sediment. This model is capable of predicting the horizontal movement of surface oil slick, the mass balance of oil spill and the oil particle concentration distribution in water body. Satellite images and field observations of oil slicks on the surface in the Singapore Straits, and measurements of the vertical concentration of oil particles in flume are used to validate the newly developed model. Compared with the observations, the numerical results of the oil spill model show good conformity.