MRI RAPID: Deepwater Oil/Gas Well Blowout Simulator to Study Oil/Gas Dispersion and Mitigate Gas Hydrate Formation in the Gulf Oil Spill

Colorado School Of Mines, Golden CO

Investigators

Abstract

This MRI RAPID research will assemble a laboratory-scale oil/gas well blowout simulator instrument, which will be used to address critical issues related to oil/gas dispersion in water and gas hydrate formation as those encountered in an oil/gas blowout in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) oil spill. Due to the quick recovery response necessary for the GoM oil spill, the PIs seek to build a simulation apparatus to study the gas hydrate formation in the containment of the oil leak, which has been a constant source of concern due to their rapid formation and plugging of remediation equipment. The Deepwater Oil/Gas Well Blowout (DOGWB) will be assembled (designed, fabricated, and commissioned) as quickly as possible in the timeframe of 6 months. This new instrument will be combined with particle force and aggregation measurement tools developed in the laboratory of the PIs over the last two decades, to model and provide mitigation of hydrate plugs from blowouts. Once assembled, the DOGWB instrument will allow the PIs to: (a) determine oil/gas dispersion/droplet evolution as a function of temperature, pressure, flow velocity, dispersant/surfactant concentration, and mechanical mixing, and (b) mitigate gas hydrate formation during containment of the GoM oil spill. This research is potentially transformative in improving the understanding of deep-water oil/gas well blowouts to help develop response efforts and enhance containment efforts. This research provides a new approach and combines a 30-year old successful instrument design used at the University of Calgary (since dismantled and discarded), with several substantial modifications incorporating the advanced knowledgebase at Colorado School of Mines (CSM). This improved instrument will enable the study of oil and gas bubbles in water at hydrate formation conditions simulating the recent GoM deepwater oil well blowout. This RAPID will complement another recently funded CSM RAPID (CBET-1042732) that was awarded in hydrate research. The instrument will provide unique experimental capabilities to study oil/gas plumes flowing through a water column at field conditions. This will enable new experimentally-based science and engineering on the development of oil/gas dispersion and hydrate mitigation in general deep-water oil/gas well blowouts occurring in different regions/fields under a range of temperature, pressure (deepwater depths), flow rates, and fluid compositions. This information can lead to the generation of new guidelines for mitigating the environmental impacts of deepwater oil/gas well blowouts, and containing oil spills by minimizing the adverse effects of hydrate formation and blockage of the containment system and associated structures. Moreover, the results obtained on oil/water droplet breakup/agglomeration will also further the understanding in emulsion/dispersion science. This information is timely and critical in light of the recent Gulf of Mexico oil spill.