Copyright I7.

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OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA
LAVH . J0UIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
. JLLLLJL
The scale of ofshore oil production and ocean transport of oil is rapidly
increasing to meet the demands of an energy-consuming society. With this
increasing activity, there is, on the part of environmentalists, a growing con
cern about possible large-scale environmental damage occurring owing to
accidents in the oil industry. This concern is, in part, well founded, because
the size of individual tankers, and the number of wells operated from one
ofshore tower, are continually increasing. Thus, the damage associated with
the accidental loss of one ship or tower increases. Moreover, if the spill rate
is approximately independent of the amount of oil handled, then increasing
production must be followed by increasing spillage. Blumer (1969) has esti
mated that the spill rate, under this assumption, tS 1/10 of 1 QCICCHl of all
oil produced or transported.
The engineering research described in this paper is motivated by a recog
nition that oil-spill accidents are likely to continue. When such a crisis
arises, there is an immediate need to determine how rapidly the oil will
spread, and where it will go in a given time. Furthermore, in the operation
of oil pollution terminals and ofshore oil rigs, attention should be given to the
possible environmental hazard. A knowledge of where the oil goes after it is
spilled and the area covered by the oil at a given time thus forms a basis for
engineering decisions concerning the best methods of dealing with such
problems.
Let us begin our discussion of these problems by reconstructing certain
commonly held assumptions. The frst idea that needs to be considered is
the concept that spread of an oil slick may be approximately viewed as com
posed of two parts, the frst consisting of convection by winds and currents,
and the second of the increase in area of the oil due to the tendency of the
oil to spread in calm water.
The drift due to wind may be estimated by arguing that the turbulent
shear-stress law at the water interface is approximately the same in both
the air and the water. If the wind velocity some distance (usually 1 meters)
above the water surface is U, then the turbulent stress is
1 1
_PalrC,.airU2wind
-
_PH20C,.H20U
2
water
(1)
31
8028
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Further
ANNUAL
REVIEWS
342 HOULT
Our assumption implies that C,.
au C,.
H
20. Then it follows that the (drift)
velocity in the water is approximately
_
P

!
.
air
U water
U Jq 0.03 U wind
PHtO
(2)
We suppose that placing oil at the air-water interface does not change this
result. This result is known to be consistent with both laboratory studies
(Hidy & Plate 1966, O'Brien 1970) over a 104 factor of Reynolds numbers
(based on water depth, wind speed, and kinematic viscosity of the water)
and feld observations (Hughes 1956, Smith 1968). The drift due to tidal
currents is simply taken to be the current velocity. When both wind-driven
currents and tidal currents are present, it is supposed that the two vector
velocities simply add. The center of mass of the oil is thus supposed to move
according to an equation
dx
-
=
Ucurrent
+ 0.03
5 Uwind
dt
where is the coordinate of the center of mass of the oil.
(3)
The drift due to wind-driven waves in Equation (3) is presumably ac
counted for in the term 0.035Uwid. There would be additional terms that
should be included if waves but no wind were present. In such a circumstance
the current can modify the wavefeld, and, again, this efect should be in
cluded. But, from a practical point of view, most circumstances in which the
oil slick is greatly displaced amount to either strong winds and weak currents
(for example, when a gale blows an ofshore oil slick onto a beach) or rela
tively strong tidal currents (as when an oil slick is carried out of a harbor
by the outgoing tide).
Turbulent winds and currents in the oceans disperse as well as convect
particles on the surface. It is expected that the larger the oil slick, the more
rapid this dispersal is, due to the results of Richardson & Stommel (1949).
In our discussion, this dispersing efect is ignored, because, for a large spill,
at least up to times on the order of a few days, the efects of such dispersal
are much slower than the tendency for the oil to spread by itself.
We shall see in a moment that there are several phases of oil-slick spread
ing, the frst being a balance between inertia and gravity. In accepting Equa
tion (3) one might wonder if the presence of waves should at least afect the
spreading rate in this frst phase. This question is unresolved at the present
time, but there are reasons to believe that such an efect would be small.
First, the vertical acceleration due to waves is at most 1/6 g; otherwise, the
waves break (Ippen 1966). Also, ocean waves are nearly periodic, so that the
oil is subject to a cyclic acceleration and deceleration due to waves. In the
frst approximation we would expect the oil to have a nearly periodic response
to this forcing function. Then, because the vertical acceleration is small, we
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OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA 343
might expect a correspondingly small modifcation in the motion. To change
the rate of spreading appreciably would seem to require a cumulative, second
order eiect, of size ( 1/6)2.
With this discussion we shall accept Equation (3) and assume that in it
are contained the efects of winds, waves, and currents. The idea then is to
develop a theory for how oil spreads in calm water in order to predict the
increase in area with time of an oil slick. This task was frst dealt with in a
systematic way by Fay (1969, 1971).
In this introduction, we shall describe how Fay developed order-of
magnitude estimates of the rate of spread of an oil slick in calm water. Later
sections will show that there are similarity solutions to the equations of
motion that predict the same results. Before discussing Fay's results it is
important to recognize that virtually all oil slicks are quite thin, typically
on the order of 1/2 inch or less in thickness. As this thickness is always much
less than the horizontal size of the slick or the wavelength of the waves
underneath it, it is an excellent approximation to consider the oil to be in
hydrostatic equilibrium in the vertical.
Another general idea is that the properties of the oil vary with time. The
most important cause of this variation is the evaporation of the lighter com
ponents of the oil into the air (Blokker 1964, Hoult et aI1970). Other causes
are dissolution of the soluble components into sea water (Fay 1971) and the
changes wrought by biological degradation (Zobell 1969). These changes all
tend to make the oil denser and more viscous. There is also a change in the
net spreading coefcient due to surface tension.
Crude oil is a mixture of a very large number of components, each with
its own properties. When this mixture is modeled by a single component
fuid of constant properties, a number of approximations are made. Clearly,
the process of aging due to the causes mentioned above S ignored. PS the
diferent components generally have quite diferent spreading coefcients
due to surface tension, in a regime where the surface-tension efects are
important, a bulk model may be a rather poor description of the details of
the fow.
Fay assumes a bulk model with constant properties as a hSt step in de
veloping and understanding the spreading process. He identifes four basic
forces that either cause or retard spreading. The oil has a density only
slightly diferent from water, Poil=Pn(l-.), .1. Since the oil is in hydro
static equilibrium in the vertical, if its thickness is h, it foats a height
.
h
above the mean water surface. A simple hydrostatic calculation then shows
that there is a pressure ac
"
ting on the oil, in the horizontal direction, of size
(
pg.h) (4)
Let the oil pool have a radius ! that varies with time l. The force cor
responding to this pressure is
(
pg.h)h. (5)
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344 HOULT
If a volume of oil is released from rest, inertia efects will tend to retard
the motion. The order of magni tude of the inertia term is
(6)
As the oil slides over the surface of the water there is a viscous drag
exerted by the water on the oil. The viscous stress is continuous at the oil
water interface. However, the oil is much more viscous than the water. Since
the oil thickness is smaller than the water boundary layer, we can establish
that the velocity gradient in the oil in the vertical direction is negligible com
pared to that in the water. There is a slug fow in the oil. The retarding force
due to viscous drag is
(7)
where 0 (vt)1/2 is the water boundary-layer thickness, / is the viscosity of the
water, and v=//p.
Surface tension acts at the edge of the oil slick. The net spreading coef
cient is defned as
(8)
where O_ is the air-water interfacial tension, U is the oil-water interfacial
tension, and is the oil-air interfacial tension. The force due to surface
tension is
Ot (
9
)
which may be positive or negative, depending on the sign of

. For most
crude oils, U is positive; a typical value might be 25 dynes/em.
Assume that a volume V of oil is released at a point. Then continuity
requires
(10)
If now the various order-of-magnitude estimates are compared, it is clear
that for long times, when the oil is very thin and hO, the viscous forces
must balance the surface-tension forces. In this "surface-tension" regime of
spreading, equating Equations (7) and (9) yields a spreading law
_
__

:I2 _zI4
(11)
I t is important to note that in this regime, the rate of oil spread is inde
pendent of the volume released.
For very short times, the situation is changed. Of the two forces that
tend to retard the oil, inertia is greater, behaving as lfor fxed dimensions,
whereas the viscous drag behaves as l'. Provided the oil is thick enough,
.e. if
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OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA
_

.
.
h>
pg
f
345
(12)
then gravity terms dominate the surface-tension driving force. For this
"inertial regime" of spreading, equating Equations (5) and (6) and using
Equation (10) yields another spreading law
c (gfV)1{4
t
l/
2
(13)
which should hold for short times provided Equation (12) is met initially.
(The value of [ulp
gf
]
1/
2
is typically 1 em.)
For intermediate times, when neither (13) "(because the time is too long)
nor (11) (because time is too short) is valid, there is a third regime that may
become important. This regime arises when the viscous retarding force is
greater than the inertial retarding force, that is, when
h <
[
vt
]
I/
2
(14)
but when the inequality (12) is still met. In this "viscous regime," the spread
ing law derived from (5), (7), and (10) is
(15)
Equations (11), (13), and (15) are Fay's main results.
We shall see later that these simple results in fact represent similarity
solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations. In subsequent sections we develop
these solutions and compare the theoretical results with both laboratory
experiments and feld observations. Then a discussion is given of why an oil
slick stops spreading, which is a matter not nearly so well understood as the
spreading laws. The paper concludes with the application of these results to
practical cases. .
. INERTAL SPREADING
A. THEORY
We consider an oil layer, of thickness h, sliding over a calm water surface.
The oil has a density (l-f), which is a factor of I-fless than that of water.
Since f is typically on the order of 1/10, we shall retain only frst-order terms
in f in the following equations.
The oil is supposed to be so viscous that.ol
.w
is large. This is an excellent
approximation, for
.ol.w
is typically larger than 20. As described in the
introduction, this implies that velocity gradients in the vertical in the oil are
much less than those in the water. For this reason, we assume that the oil
velocity is independent of the vertical direction.
If U is the horizontal velocity of the oil, then conservation of mass
requires
ah a
+ r-n-
(
rnUh) = 0
at ar
(16)
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346 HOULT
In Equation (16), 7 is the space coordinate, n=O for the one-dimensional
motion in a channel, and h= 1 for the spread of an axisymmetric pool.
We assume that the horizontal extent of the oil is much greater than h,
and that the slope ahjar is everywhere small. If this is true, then the oil is
in hydrostatic equilibrium in the vertical. Thus, the height of the oil above
the mean water level is Ih, and the depth below the mean water level is
(1-f)h.
A simple hydrostatic calculation (Hoult 1969) shows that the horizontal
force due to the fact that the oil foats on the water is
(17)
In the inertial spreading regime, this gravitational force balances the
acceleration of the oil:
(18)
In this equation, only the lowest-order terms in f have been retained. Using
continuity, we may simplify this equation to fnd
au au ah
-+ u
-+
g
f
-= 0
at ar ar
(19)
Equations (16) and (19) should be compared with the equations of a com
pressible, polytropic gas. If this is done, it is found that the motion of the oil
slick in this regime is analogous to that of a gas, provided the density of the
gas is associated with h, and '=2. This fact was recognized by Abbott
(1961a, b), who studied the small amplitude waves in such a system. The
wavespeed is [gfh
]1/2
Here we consider a diferent problem. We specify the volume of oil
released at t=O; since this volume of oil is conserved
v -j (27r)nhdr = constant
0
(20)
If a gas-dynamic analogy is considered, it might be thought that such
a point release of oil is analogous to a point explosion. In such a gas-dynamic
fow, the density goes to zero lt the origin. Hoult & Suchon (1970) frst pro
posed such a solution, but as we shall see, the result is not in agreement with
experiment (Section 2B).
In fact, Equations (16), (19), and (20) are incomplete, requiring an addi
tional boundary condition to specify the solution uniquely. This fact was
frst recognized by Fannelop & Waldman (1971), who proposed that the
leading edge of the oil moved through the water with a velocity of [gfh
L
]
1/2
,
where hLB is the thickness of the oil at the leading edge of the wave.
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OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA 347
Fay (1971) studied Fannelop and Waldman's theory, and then argued
that the oil leading edge was an intrusion, and according to von Karman's
(1940) famous calculation, the velocity of the leading edge should be
[2gho]1/2, where ho is the thickness of the oil some distance from the leading
edge. Fay takes ho to be the thickness of the oil at the origin,
ho = h
(
O, t) (21)
I t should be recognized that the physics of this boundary condition, which
is analogous to a Rankine-Hugoniot relationship in gas dynamics, is not
entirely clear. Benjamin (1968) has shown that a steady-state intrusion must
always break, so that a speed between [gh ]
1/
2
and [2gDh ]1/2 is possible. How
ever, in the present problem, the leading edge is decelerating (r,.t1l2, see
Section 1) and this deceleration may be sufcient to replace the drag force
required to stabilize the wave according to Benjamin's calculation.
For these reasons, we shall use as the leading-edge boundary condition
U @@=
[
gh@@
]

/
2
(22)
and shall leave the determination of to experiment (if that happens to be
possible).
This problem has a similarity solution of the form
r
U = -V(1)
t
where' has the form

r(
g

)
-1/3
L
-
2
/3
t
-
2
/3
= r(
g
D)
-1/4
L
-3/4t-1/
2
for W = 0 (one-dimensional)
for W = 1 (axisymmetric)
(23)
(24)
There is a simple way to understand 1. Within a constant, 1 is the ratio of r
to the size of the pool . The diferent exponents that occur in (24) arise from
an order-of-magnitude analysis, as in (13), for the two cases.
In (23) and (24), L stands for the length scale associated with the volume
released:

V
1/
3
L=
V
l/
2
for W= 1
for W

0
(25)
Upon substituting (23), (24) and (25) into (20), one can determine the
volume of oil released by the constraint
(26
)
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348 HOULT
Equation (16), continuity, becomes
(2 -n
)
- -H'+
(
vH') =0
3+n
which may be integrated to give
( 2
0-- H = CUD5I
3+n
(27)
At ' " 0 (7" 0), H is fnite. Hence, the value of the constant of integration
is zero, and
2-n
(28) v=-
3+n
I t is worthwhile commenting that the oil velocity in all fows considered
in this paper behaves as constX It, independent of the fow regime in question.
We shall also see the arguments (27) and (28) repeated in subsequent sections
on the viscous and surface-tension regime of spreading.
To determine the thickness distribution H(') we turn to the momentum
equation (19). It transforms to
d (
H )
=

(2 n
T
d' '1+" 3 + n 3 + n
which integrates to give
H _1 + 2n) (2 -n)'2
'
1
+" = 3 + n 3 + W .
+
K
(29)
(30)
Now is related to the rate of spread of oil, for His nonzero only in some
range of T, 0 5T 5T
m
a
x
. Thus, the constraint (26) may be written

[(1 + 2n) (2 -n) T2

(21
)
nTn - -+ d' = 1
0
3+n 3+n 2
When the integral is evaluated, it is found that
[

(21)" K-+ (1
+ 2
n)(
2
n) -1
1 + n 2
(
3 + n)3
(31)
Clearly, another equation is required to specify . For this purpose we use
(22), which specifes the type of wave that occurs at the leading edge of the
oil slick. In similarity variables, this boundary condition becomes
_2 -n)2 qg
-
T
max
= H(
T
max)
3+n
(32)
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.

OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA

DI\
F!b

IIfi'
wATLR
PHO0
CLL
A!N
LLL
fV
SI6RAL
U
|*
6v*
1IuUR . Circuit used to linearize photocell output.
349
In the case of one-dimensional spread, it can be shown (20) that, for Equa
tion (21), q_" 1.57, whereas for Fannelop and Waldman's theory, 1m8
1.39. In any case, the spreading law is
YmAX
= 1max(g
L)
-
l/
(3+n
)
L
-(
2
+n)
f(3+n
)
t
+(
2
-n)
/
(3
+
n)
. XFERIMEN1AL E8UL1S
(3
3
)
The frst experiments on the inertial spreading phase were performed by
Abbott (1961b), who showed that the leading edge of an oil slick travelled
with a velocity of about [gLh LEP/2 , that is, with} " 1. However, Abbott studied
the fow near the point of release, rather than the decelerating fow far from
the point of release, which was described in Section A.
This latter problem was the subject of experiments by Suchan (1970)
and Liang (1971). Both experiments were done in a plexiglass tank 2 feet
wide, 7 feet long, and 1 foot deep. Liang measured the oil thickness by a
photocell method developed by Lee (1971), shown in Figures 1 and 2. The
general arrangement of the apparatus is shown in Figure 3.
Typical results are shown in Figure 4. At face value, the experimental
value l.S onqmgwould seem to be in better agreement with Fay's result than
with Fannelop and Waldman's. However, the situation is not so simple.
A
n
n
u
.

R
e
v
.

F
l
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d

M
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c
h
.

1
9
7
2
.
4
:
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4
1
-
3
6
8
.

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350
I

o
HOULT
3 4
5
HEIGHT (em)
FIGUR Z. Typical calibration curve for a photocell-log circuit assmbly.
Figure J shows a photograph of the leading edge of the wave, as seen
through a glass window at the side of the channel. Figure 6 shows that the
theoretical thickness profle rises smoothly from the origin to r = rma, the
increase being about 10 percent of the value of the thickness at the origin.
At r = rma, the thickness drops abruptly to zero. Clearly, Figure 5 shows
that the actual wave thickness distribution bears little resemblance to the
simplifed theoretical picture.
Figure 7 compares the theoretical thickness distribution, normalized
with the leading-edge velocity as a function of r jrma, with experimental
results. This fgure would seem to imply that Fay's boundary condition
(labeled 2) is a better approximation than Fannelop and Waldman's (labeled
1). The large scatter is due to the irregular lower surface of the oil.
Fay, using Equation (21), determined the axisymmetric spreading rate
to be (7m 1.14)
_-
Fh0T0C5LL ^
OIL (l-op
~ w

WA|K

0
f
/
I
1ICUR 3. Experimental tank with photocell stations
at 7_ 7g , 3} and the oil before releas.

A
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u
.

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.

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.

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7
2
.
4
:
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1
-
3
6
8
.

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.
|
OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA
IO
HUH

4
o
o

O
ICU% 4. Nondimensional length vs. nondimensional
time for gravity-inertial spreading.
f= 1 . 1 4 gL-l/4L-
3
/4t-1/
2
351
Note for future reference that Figure 6 shows the one-dimensional thickness
distribution calculated with Fay's boundary condition.
d. NbLLLb bL
A. HE0RY
For this and the following section, it is convenient to nondimensionalize
the equations as follows (y is positive upward):
h
h
=
-,
L
.
7
y =
-,
L
f
i
=-,
L
[
g
L J1
/
2
t t
L
'
Vg N
0 = -: -- :-
[gAL]
1
/
2
(34)
There are two new features of this fow. First, there is a Reynolds number,
based on the properties of water,
(gLL)I/
2
L
R=

P
(35)
that is assumed to be large, R P Second, there is an additional term in the
oil momentum equation that represents the drag due to the water boundary
layer. The nondimensional oil momentum equation has the form
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:
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1
-
3
6
8
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.
352 HOULT
1ICUR . Oil slick propagating into still water.
a 1 a 1 aO

al
--(hU) + -(fnhU2) + - - + h - 0
at fn af R ay @m af
(3
6
)
We now proceed to estimate the scale of the gradients. Using Equation
(15) and its one-dimensional analogue, we fnd the nondimensional spreading
law tD be
(37)
From Equation (10), we have i"l/
t(
l+f).
From oil continuity (16), we
have t ^f
/
j,.j-
(
fft)f8 Rl
/
(
B
n
). Then, balancing the viscous and gravitational
1.5
h(r,t)
h(o,t)

1.0
.5
o
bICUR 6. Theoretical thickness distribution for the one-dimensional inertial fow.
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u
.

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.
OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA 353
,d
w
.
Z
!"
-'.7

W
O

t
.6
RUN
TVLU

O
.
2-Fay Z

9
O
R
J
,Z . ,
. ,J
X
IGUPF 7.
terms in Equation (36) gives the scale of the ] gradients,
y"
1/
2
jl/2
,
as
suggested by Equation (7) that is, Y"(It)1/2.
1 we turn to the equations in the water, which are the Navier-Stokes
equations, the motion will be of the boundary-layer type where ajayaja,.
This implies
O
(R
(
5+2nJll+
2n)
>
1. To have the oil inertia be negligible
compared with the gravitational driving force, a t jalaija,. This implies t
>
O
(R
(
3
-
2
n)!(7-4n).
Hence, the limit process is Ro, (R(5
+
2nl/1-2
n
)>
1
>
O
(R
(3
2
n
)
!(7+4n
)
.
It is not surprising that 11 in this limit process; after
all, time was nondimensionalized with inertial variables. Since the viscous
regime of spreading always follows the inertial regime, it is clear that
should become large in the viscous spreading regime. (See Hoult Suchon
1970.)
The water continuity equation determines the magnitude of the vertical
velocity in the water,
Under these circumstances, the equations in the water take the form
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3
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.
35
4 HOULT
1 a a1
- -(fnU) + -= 0
fn af a
y
aU

aU aU 1 a2u
+u-+v-=- -
at af a
y
R a
y
2
The oil momentum equation has the approximate form
1 au
ok
--+h-=O
R a
y
af
The oil continuity equation is
a(rnul) ol
fn
+-=0
af at
Finally, the amount of oil released is
The similarity solution in this case takes the form

= f
t
-
(?
n
)f8Rl
/
(8+4
n
)
Z " y
Rl/
2t
-1
/2
0 = f
t
-1g'(z)
1 = -(n + 1)
Rl
/2t
-1
/2
g(Z)
h = H(yr
-
(l+n
)
The boundary conditions are that, at z=O,
y(z =
0) = 0
o(z = 0) = 0 (in the oil)
and, at z = - P_ if the fuid is at rest far from the oil,
g'(- ) = 0
(38)
(39)
(40)
(41)
(42
)
(43)
(44)
(45)
t can be shown that the oil continuity equation is identically satisfed,
and i is fnite at ,=0 if and only if
3-n r
o(oil) ~ _ (46)
Equation (46) implies that
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.

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.
OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA
3-n
g'(O)

8
3
55
(
4
7)
The form j chosen in (43) satisfes the water continuity equation identi
cally. The water momentum equation is
g'" + g" _ + (n + l)g, + g'(l - g')
0
3
-n
g'(O) ~
8
g
(
O) 0, g'(- .) 0
With the inertial terms deleted, Equation (36) now takes the form
_12nHg
"
(0) = H[H'l -(n + 1)H
]
which may be integrated to yield
1-
2(nH)H2 _
1
2
g
"
(0)
+ k
Now when J=0, the leading edge of the slick is reached, so that
_ k
.
1/
2
lmax g
"(
O
)
(
4
8)
(
4
9)
and
k
is determined by carrying out the integration (42). When this is done,
it is found that
_
=
21/47-l/2g"
(0)
-1/4 for n = 0
_ @
3
1/37-1/34-
2
/3
g
"
(0)
-
2
/3 f
o
r
n
1
(SO)
At this juncture, it might appear that the numerical solution to (48)
completes the picture. However, it is easily shown (Houl t Suchon 1970)
that two out of the three solutions of (48) have g
;
( - 0) 0 and g(O) " O.
Thus, it happens that (48) does not have unique solutions.
It can be shown that, near the leading edge, i behaves as
h (lmax - 1)
1/
2
X function of time (51)
Hence, the slope ah/ar is Infn!te at the leading edge of the slick. The product
h ah/ar has a fnite value at the leading edge of the slick. This implies that
the viscous stress also has a fnite value at 1
m
ax. Such a stress can be set up
only by a motion upstream of the leading edge, because, if there no motion
in the water at the leading edge, the velocity would be zero there, and the
stress either zero or infnite. We would expect this motion to extend upstream
a distance 0 (vt) 1/2. The accelerations in this region, of size U2/0, are much
greatr than the deceleration of the fow, of size U2/t, because ot. Thus,
A
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.

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.

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.
356 ROULT
!H
W1
!\
oHLML!NLo
1ICUR 8. Sketch of the leading edge of the oil slick in the viscous regime.
the fow may be viewed locally as quasi-steady. A sketch (Figure 8) then
shows that there should be a region of reverse fow in the boundary layer
downstream of the leading edge.
In fact, this is a universal feature of all physically possible solutions of
(48). 1igures 9 and 10 show a numerical solution of (48) for h=0 and h 1,
with a value of g"(O) determined from experiment. (See Section 3B.) The
region of reverse fow is evident.
Clearly, the boundary-layer theory is inapplicable to the region ahead of
the leading edge. But this iotion determines the initial stress in the oil. This
stress is proportional to g"(O). We believe the reason that the solutions to
.R
.
.
. 1
O -
-gq
-
.
1
*.<

1ICUR 9. The axisymmetric viscous solution.

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.

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.

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.

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.
1L bVL1L N bP 357
.
.
A
^.

1IGURH U. The viscous solution (one dimensional).

(48) are not uniquely determined is that g"(O) is unspecifed. Since g"(O)
may not be determined from the boundary-layer theory, we shall appeal to
experiment to determine its value.
The local fow near the leading edge will be the same in both the axisym
metric and one-dimensional cases, as locally the efects of curvature are
small. Then it follows that g"(O) has the same value in both one-dimensional
and axisymmetric fows. Once the value of g"(O) is determined from one
dimensional experiment, its value may be used to determine the spreading
parameter in the axisymmetric case. In this way (see Section 3B). it is found
that g"(O) =0. 213 and
ma
1
.
5
ma 1.12
W 0 (from experiment)
R ~ 1 [from Equation
(50)]
. |XPfBDfNTAI f8UIT8
(52)
The experimental method is the same as that described in Section 2B.
However, the water was simulated with a glycerinewater mixture. In this
way both the viscous and inertial regimes could be studied in the same ap
paratus (Suchon 1970). Figure 11 shows the results for the one-dimensional
spread of oil in the viscous-gravitational regime. It is seen that q
1
.5.
By appropriately choosing the viscosity of the glycerine-water mixture,
the volume of oil released, and the size of the tank, Suchon could study ex-
A
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.

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.

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.

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6
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.

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.
358 LL
VICU !RLAINU

SL0PL 3I8 ../

|N1LRCL!1 | ..V"
'
, ....
_..
RUN
Z^
ZT
|O

#
|
_ :.
Z
Z
|2
_:.
.6
|.B
3.6
IGUPE 11. lravty-VscOus spreading.
-
peri mentally the process of transition from the inertial to viscous regime.
Figure 12 shows these results for the one-dimensional case. Time is nor
malized with the estimated time to the transition
Lengths were normalized by the estimated distance to the transition point,
tt (fg
L2
)1
/3
Tt
2/3
The transition is surprisingly sharp. This is probably due to the rather small
changes in thickness distribution that occur in going from one regime to the
next. In Figure 13 the theoretical thickness profle is shown. This profle
should be compared with Figure 6.
9- SURACE-TENSION SPREADING
A. THEORY
In this regime, the oil thickness is so decreased that gravitational forces
are no longer important. Referring to Equation (36), we see that if iO
and the inertial terms are ignored, then
c
-
=0
iy =
(
53)
Thus, the fow in the water boundary layer must have a wake-like character.
A
n
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u
.

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.

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3
6
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.

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s
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OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA 359
~ ~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~
^
.
:GCPR I2. ranston lrom nerta!- to gravity-viscous spreading.
This wake is caused by the action of a line force due to surface tension,
The momentum in the boundary layer must balance this force:
1
.5
h(r,t)
0 (2r)n UdYdr "
(21max
)
n
dt
0
h(o,t)
|.u -
-
.5
o .2 .6 .8
"
u 1.2
1IGUR 3. Theoretical thickness distributions
for one-dimensional viscous spreading.
(5
4)
1
.4
1
.5
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360 LL
As in the previous section, the velocity far below the surface vanishes,
((y " ) 0
(55)
In addition to the Reynolds number R, this problem has an additional
parameter, arising out of the nondimensional form of (54), U/pg
6L2. How
ever, it is clear that neither parameter plays a role, because the motion is
independent of
L
. It is important to recognize that the similarity variable
has the same form in both the axisymmetric and one-dimensional cases:
(56)
This happens because the rate of oil spread in this regime is independent of
the volume of oil released.
The equations of motion are the unsteady boundary-layer equations (38)
and (39). The similarity solution has the same form as in Equation (43),
which may be formally written as
= fi-
1
g'(z)
v " -(W + 1)R-1/2t-1/2g(z)
z =
y
Rl/
2
1-
1
/2
This gives, when substituted into the momentum equation,
g
il
'
+ g
"
(
+ (h + l)g + g
'
(l -
g
') 0
(57)
(58)
Clearly, the similarity solution to this problem difers only in boundary con
ditions from the viscous spreading regime.
Upon substituting this equation into the oil continuity equation, we ob
tain, as h is fnite at 7=0,
g
'(O)

!
(59)
The oil thickness distribution is not determined by the boundary-layer fow.
The remaining boundary conditions are (53), (55), and no fow through
the surface:
g'(-o) =0, g"(O) = 0, g(O) = 0 (60)
The spreading law is determined by (54). The integral is estimated by
assuming that M is nearly zero for r>rmax If we use rmax=7max(U2t3/p2/)I/4,
Equation (54) becomes, after the integrals are evaluated,
(61)
In this case, there are sufcient boundary conditions to determine the solu-
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o -I
OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA
-2 -3 -4

1ICURE 1. The surfULetesion solution . =.

361
tion uniquely. Figures 14 and 15 show gas a function of' for . and . 1.
The velocity profle g

(z) has no region of reverse fow, as did the viscous

gravitational fow. This fact suggests that the solutions should be Mniqueq
The viscous stress at'ma is not fnite but either zero or infnite, depending
on the l ocation of the surface-tension driving force.
.8
.2
The computed values of q are
g"(Z)
.
0a ~
0.128
-3 H -5
.
n = 1
1IGUR . The surface-tension solution . =.
(62)
-10
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362 HOULT
|
IGURE 16. Surface-tension spreading.
. bURFACE-1ENStoN XPEBtmENIS
The experiments were done on the surface-tension regime in the one
dimensional case. Figure 16 shows the result of Lee (1971), which indicates
that qg 1.33 for the one-dimensional case. (Compare with q_ 0.665
from the theory. )
The data of Garrett & Barger (1970) are shown in Figure 17. Garrett
measured the velocity of the spread of oils with various U. Figure 17 shows
that these results are consistent with Lee's data.
Figure 18 shows Lee's measurement of the thickness distribution, a
quantity not predicted by the theory; h varies roughly as ht1jr and is the
thickest near the leading edge. When h is plotted in similari ty variables, Lee
fnds that h varies roughly as
const X L
h"

0 0a (63)
There can be little doubt that the basic similarity solution actually occurs
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7 7
OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA
' LLL I
- LLTL LLML
^ L1LL L
1| LLTL MM1L
..1-
Z
::
1
1
0
Q1

c
L
2
3
U
b
3
IGURF T. Surface-tension spreading.
2 3 4 5 6 7
JNL (seconds)
ICUR I. Measured thickness distributions for
one-dimensional surface-tension spreading.
363
8 9
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364
!

U
U

g
.
L
O
HOULT
b
IGUP 9. he maximum area compared with feld data.
in the experiments. But the discrepancy between theory and experiment is
quite puzzling. It seems quite unlikely that the various approximations made
in the theory would lead to such a large discrepancy. At this writing, it is not
clear why the discrepancy arises.
5. TH FINAL ARA OF AN OI SLCK
I t is well known that after a certain time oil spilled on the sea ceases to
spread. The spreading process always ends in a surface-tension regime. The
reason the oil-spreading process stops is that the net spreading coefcient
changes from positive to negative. Thus, the problem of determining the
fnal area of an oil slick depends on an estimate of how rapidly 0 changes.
To form such an estimate is not a simple task. First, the value of is
determined by the very small concentration of surfactants in the oil; only
with regard to U are these chemicals important. Second, crude. oil is made up
of a very large number of constituents, each of which has a diferent value of
U as well as a diferent volatility and solubility. Third, the temperature,
salinity, and biological properties of sea water determine, to some extent,
the changes in U. It is not entirely clear that there should exist one simple
overall estimate of the fnal area attained by an oil slick.
However, due to the practical significance of this question, two ideas
have been put forth for estimating the fnal area of an oil slick. First, it is
supposed (Blokker 1964, Allen Estes 1970) that the oil spread ceases after
a certain minimum thickness is reached. By empirical correlation of observa
tion, this thickness is found to be h 10-3 inches.
A physically more plausible idea is put forth by Fay (1971). He argues
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5
E
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e4
.90
.
o
OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA

w
365
PbTMc
W MNcN
JLT
l
w

W OIL AGED ON ICE }

|!J
= OIL AGED ON WATER
FROM GLAESER VANCE
CALCULATED TIME SCALE,tp FOR THIS
COMPARISON IS:
*.O4*7!O }
U 12ft /sec SO THAT T_ 10 DAYS
T ZT0
1.4 1 4
NON DIMENSIONAL TIME
IUURE ZU.The change in density in the arctic, as calculated
using an evaporative model.
T Wh NNM
10
3
L-
10
2
10
3
10
4
10
5
10
6
10
7
(SEC)
ICURE . Combined spreading laws.
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366
u
2
Z
.
C
>
NLL
IL
MLUL
UrUL I
LN>lQN _
I
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
/
I
f >LAU LAbLb
/
/

| |
T!NE |R)
tGUR 22. The duration of the spreading regimes.
that the surfactants slowly dissolve into the water and estimates the time
at which an appreciable fraction of all such components initially in the oil
enter the water. Using this idea, and the surface-tension spreading theory,
Fay attains the following result for the area :

_ C2V6 _.
p2pD8S6
where is the solubility and D the difusivity of the surfactants in water.
Figure 19 shows Fay's correlation of empirical data. The ft contains one
empirical constant, which replaces U D, and .
There are at least two other physical mechanisms that may cause to
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.
OIL SPREADING ON THE SEA 367
vary. The frst is the selective evaporation of the more volatile components
of the crude oil (Blokker 1964). Fair agreement is obtained on this mech
anism for the evolution of oil density (see Figure 20). A rough estimate
shows that for a typical crude oil, evaporation of the more volatile com
ponents is three times faster than their dissolution into the water. However,
this argument says nothing about the solubility or evaporation of surfactants
that determine U.
The other physical mechanism is biological degradation of oil due to
bacteria (Zobell 1969), which certainly will change the properties of the oil.
6. CONCLUSIONS
A number of practical results arise from the results presented in the pre
ceding sections. Consider frst the problem of a large tanker running aground
and releasing a large volume of oil. If this process is modeled as a point re
lease, then Figure 21 shows the successive regimes of spreading and provides
an estimate of the area of the slick as time increases. Figure 22 shows the
duration of each spreading regime as a function of volume released, as esti
mated by Fay (1969).
If an ofshore oil well spreads a small leak, or if a tanker discharges bal
last, then surface-tension spreading will generally be the only important
spreading regime. Figure 23 shows the area of such a slick, as a function of
10
1
0
10
8
V
E
<
U
D
%
10
6
X

Q
L
2 x!O TONS OIL (TORREY CANYON)
O BBL OIL
30 BBL OIL
11O BBL OIl/WATER
90 BBL OIl/WATER
Zb BBL OIl/WATER
X
SANTA BARBARA

V
O
105
t (sec)

C
K
*x X
O,x
FIGURE 23. Area increasd due to surface-tension spread.
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368 HL\J
time from release, compared with feld observations (Fay 1969). This chart
is constructed by saying that the area of the slick obeys a two-dimensional
spreading law, as described in Section 4, with q_g set arbitrarily equal to I.
Since the rate of spread in the surface-tension regime is independent of the
volume of oil released, measurement of the area of the slick will not sufce
to determine the volume.
Turning to the scientifc aspects of oil-slick spreading, we can make some
general statements. First, there are a series of boundary-layer type problems
that arise in computing the viscous drag on a spreading oil slick. The simple,
order-of-magnitude results of Fay (1969) correspond to similarity solutions
of the boundary-layer equations. Second, the spreading regimes proposed by
Fay are consistent with experimental observations.
The mechanism by which an oil slick ceases to spread is not entirely clear
at present. It may be that there are several mechanisms acting in concert
that so modify the net spreading coefcient that spreading ceases.
I1TfBATUBf C1TfD
Abbott, M. B. 1961a. Houille Blanche 16:
622-35
Ibid 101b. 1:827~5
Allen, A. A., Estes, J. E. 1970. Detection and
Measurement of Oil Films. Santa Barbara
Oil Symposium, Univ. of Calif., Santa
Burburu, Calif., 1970
Benjamin, T. B. 1968. J. Fluid Mech. 3:
200-48
Blokker, P. C. 1964. Spreading and Evapora
tion of Petroleum Products on Water.
Proc. 4th Int. Harbour Conf., Antwerp,
June 22-27, 1964, 911-19
Blumer, M. 1969. In Oil on the Sea, ed.
L. P. Hoult, 5-13, New York: Plenum
Fannelop, T. K., Waldman, G. O. 1971.
The Dynamics of Oil Slicks-or Creeping
Crude. AIAA paper 71-14, AIAA 9th
Aerospace Sciences Meet., Jan., 1071
Fay, ]. A. 1969. In Oil on the Sea, ed. L. .
Hoult, 53-63, New York: Plenum
Fay, J. A. 1971. Physical Processes in the
Spread of Oil on a Water Surface. Conf.
on Prevention and Control of Oil Spills,
sponsored by API, EPA, and US Coast
Guard, Washington, DC
Garrett, W. L., Barger, W. R. 1970. En
viron. Sci. Technol. 4:123-27
Hidy, G. M. Plate, E. J. 1966. J. Fluid
Mech. 26:651-87 (1 plate)
Hoult, O. P. 1969. In Oil on the Sea, ed.
L. P. Hoult, 65-80. New York: Plenum
Hoult, O. P., Fay, J. A., Milgram, J. H.,
Cross, R. H. III, 1970. The Spreading and
Containment of Oil Slicks, AIAA 3D
Fluid Plasma Phys. Dynam. Conf., Los
Angeles, 1970
HouIt, O. P., Suchon, W. J070. The Spread
of Oil in a Channel. Fluid Mech. Lab.,
Dept. Mech. Eng., Mass. Inst. Techno!.
25 pp.
Hughes, P. 1956. Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol.
Soc. 82 :494-502
Ippen, A. T. 10. Estuary and Coastline
Hydrodynamics, 115. New York: Mc
Graw-Hill
Lee, R. A. S. 1971. A study of the surface
tension controlled regime of oil spread.
MS thesis (Mech. Eng.). MIT
Liang, L. S. 1971. Spreading of oil on calm
Water: Inertial phase, MS thesis (Mech.
Eng.). MIT
O'Brien, J. A. 1970. Wind Tunnel Experi
ments on Oil Slick Transport. US Naval
Civil Engineering Lab. progress report
71-1, Port Hueneme, Calif.
Richardson, L. F., Stommel, H. 1949. J.
M eteorol. 5:238-40
Smith, J. E. (Ed.), 1968, "Torrey Canyon"
-Pollution and Marine Life. Cambridge,
England: Cambridge Univ. Press
Suchon, W. 1970. An experimental investiga
tion of oil spreading over water, MS thesis
(Mech. Eng.). MIT
von Karman, T.1940. Bull. Am. Math. Soc.
46:615-83
Zobell, C. E. 1969. Microbial Modifcation
of Crude Oil in the Sea, PrOC. Joint Coni.
Prevention and Control of Oil Spills, Lec.
15-17, 1969, gg. 317-26
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d
a
d
e

F
e
d
e
r
a
l

d
o

E
s
p
i
r
i
t
o

S
a
n
t
o

o
n

0
5
/
1
5
/
1
2
.

F
o
r

p
e
r
s
o
n
a
l

u
s
e

o
n
l
y
.