Analysis of Leaked Crude Oil in a Mountainous Area

Abstract

China–Myanmar oil and gas pipelines in Southwest China guarantee the energy security of China. Due to poor geographical circumstances, the safety of pipelines is seriously threatened by natural disasters. Therefore, there is a crucial, practical significance to establishing a model of leakage and diffusion of crude oil in the mountainous terrain and to conduct related applied studies. In the present study, computational fluid dynamic simulations of the dynamic diffusion process of leaking contaminants on the mountain surface was performed; the influence of the pipe pressure, landform, surface environment and leakage location on diffusion speed and range were discussed carefully. The results indicate that the variation of topographic altitude determines the path of leaking contaminants. Accordingly, an improved algorithm based on the SFD8 algorithm to predict the path of leaking contaminants at a low leakage rate was proposed; this would be instructive for an emergency response to ensure the safety of pipelines.