Accident at river-crossing underwater oil pipeline

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present an approach enabling to define the flame spread velocity at spill fire on the river, taking into account the wind speed. Due to constant oil supply from the pipeline during the leakage, an oil slick will increase until its borders reach river banks. Formulas for determining the main parameters of oil spill on the river in case of an accident at underwater oil pipeline were suggested. The formulas include the initial data determined in the field, for instance, flow and wind speed, as well as water temperature. An example of the change of oil slick parameters on the river was demonstrated. The spread rate of spilled oil and the flame spread speed were calculated. It was shown that on narrow rivers, an oil slick takes the form of a river bed within a few minutes and moves in the direction of the flow. Determination of oil spill parameters given in the study is sufficient for accident response implementation: - spread rate of spilled oil allows for distance calculation in order to install oil booms; - flame spread speed in conjunction with the oil slick size will make it possible to calculate the fire extinguishing means. The obtained results, undoubtedly, require testing in experimental conditions, which is the purpose of further research.