Numerical analysis of a lock-release oil slick

Presented in this paper for the spread of a lock-release oil slick is a numerical analysis based on the renormalization group (RNG) k-epsilon model for turbulence closure, the volume of fluid (VOF) method for tracking the oil-water interface, and a rigid-cover approximation for the open surface. In agreement with theoretical analyses and experimental observations, numerical results show that the spread of the oil slick passes through three phases: the initial inertial slumping phase in which the inertial force and the horizontal buoyancy are dominant and the front speed is constant, the transitional phase in which the viscous force begins to play an important role instead of the inertial force and the front speed declines, and the viscous self-similar phase in which the viscous force and the horizontal buoyancy are dominant and the front speed declines as t-(5/8). Typical flow and pressure distributions are illustrated. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.