Effects of Hydrocarbon Spills From an Oil Pipeline Break on Ground Water

Keywords: Oil Spills, Central United States, Areal Multiphase Organic Simulator (ARMOS), Oil Pipelines, Lifelines, Memphis Sands Aquifer, Multiphase Organic Flow and Transport (MOFAT), Numerical Models, Pipeline Breaks, Groundwater Contamination, New Madrid Seismic Source Zone, Pipeline Breaks, Hazardous Materials, and Petroleum Products.

Abstract: The study was undertaken to determine the effect of an oil spill, which might be caused by a seismic event rupturing a crude oil pipe line which crosses the recharge area of the Memphis Sands Aquifer. To do this, two numerical models were used to simulate a potential rupture of the 40 inch crude oil pipeline located in Wolf River fluvial valley susceptible to liquefaction. The simulation approach used two two-dimensional upstream weighted finite element models to predict the three-dimensional flow phenomenon of released crude in the saturated and unsaturated zones. ARMOS (Aerial Multiphase Organic Simulator) was used to simulate the crude oil migration horizontally and to evaluate the extent of the crude dispersion on the ground water table. MOFAT (Multiphase Organic Flow and Transport) was used to simulate crude soil saturation in the vertical flow domain, in order to evaluate the dissolution of particular monoaromatic hydrocarbon isomers. The simulated results aided in designing an appropriate strategy for site remediation.