Spreading of Niger Delta Oil Spill on Placid Aquatic Medium

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Njobuenwu, Derrick O. | Abowei, Millionaire F.N.

Affiliations: Chemical/Petrochemical Engineering Department, Rivers State University of Science & Technology, PMB 5080 Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Note: [] Corresponding Author. E-mail: donadviser@yahoo.co.uk

Abstract: Continuous research in the development of suitable predictive model is vital as the input of oil spills into the aquatic environment, particularly in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria, is alarming due to frequent oil spills. This eventually affects aquatic organisms and shoreline activities. This work developed an empirical expression that can describe the horizontal spreading of Niger Delta Oil Spills (NDOS) on a placid water body using simple physical coefficients of the oil and the aquatic medium. The empirical expression developed is a function of the spreading coefficient which was derived from heuristic arguments and enhanced to deal with gravity, viscous and surface tension forces. The extent of spread of various oil samples was found to correlate with non-dimensional groups comprising the ratios of the product between density, viscosity for oil and water respectively. This model provides an easy means to estimate oil slick transport under stagnant water conditions at specific locations in the Niger Delta area. The semi-empirical model is verified against most popular empirical model.

Keywords: Spreading, oil spill, Niger delta, aquatic medium, oil pollution, calm water, oil properties

Journal: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 49-55, 2008