Methods for predicting the physical changes in oil spilt at sea

Recently developed mathematical expressions describing oil slick behaviour have been compared with data obtained from various experimental oil spills. The report presents the equations used and shows how the results from some sixteen different spills compare with the predictions. These comparisons have shown that the algorithms generally give good predictions of behaviour. The models require detailed oil property data, particularly asphaltene contents, distillation data and density-composition relationships. Fortunately, such information is now readily available for a wide range of crude oils.