Abstract
Some of the important aspects of oil spills which have significant impact on the Arctic evironment have been investigated. Simple theoretical models have been developed for the movement of oil on permeable and impermeable surfaces. The latter model has been verified by laboratory experiments. Vertical infiltration of oil in the unsaturated water zone of soil has also been studied both theoretically and experimentally. Areas requiring future investigation are discussed.
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Abbreviations
- A :
-
area of oil slick at soil surface (seepage area)
- K 1, K 2 etc.:
-
constants
- P c :
-
capillary pressure
- P d :
-
displacement pressure
- Q :
-
rate of spillage
- Q :
-
average rate of spillage
- Q 1 :
-
rate of infiltration of oil into porous medium
- Q v :
-
rate of increase in the volume of oil contaminated zone
- S :
-
saturation
- S 0 :
-
initial saturation
- S rl :
-
residual liquid saturation
- U i :
-
velocity of oil infiltration into porous medium
- g :
-
acceleration due to gravity
- h :
-
thickness of oil slick
- k :
-
permeability to wetting phase
- k 0 :
-
total permeability
- r :
-
radius of the oil slick
- r c :
-
radius of the capillaries
- t :
-
time
- t 0 :
-
initial time
- x :
-
depth of vertical penetration of oil into porous medium
- x 0 :
-
initial depth
- gD Q :
-
density difference between oil and air
- θ:
-
contact angle between oil and solid
- ν,λ:
-
constants for particular soil
- μ:
-
viscosity of oil
- σ:
-
density of oil
- γ:
-
surface tension at the oil-air interphase
- τ:
-
time
- erfc:
-
complementary error function
- exp:
-
exponential function
References
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Raisbeck, J.M., Mohtadi, M.F. The environmental impacts of oil spills on land in the arctic regions. Water Air Soil Pollut 3, 195–208 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00166630
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00166630