The CFD-DEM coupled numerical simulation for the oil spill in ice-covered waters

The Arctic region is rich in oil and gas reserves, accounting for 25% of the world’s untapped oil resources. With the increase of oil transportation activities in the region, the risk of oil spills from ships has increased. The external environment encountered by ships operating in ice areas is mainly a coupled system of sea ice with wind, waves, and currents. For the numerical simulation of this coupled system, a numerical ice pool is established in this paper using the coupled CFD-DEM method. Specifically, a physical sea ice model is established using the discrete element method. Then a 3D pool is established based on the VOF model, and the two are coupled and calculated through the CFD-DEM interface to realize the simulation effect of the numerical ice pool. Finally, the oil spill diffusion law under different sea ice concentrations, oil spill velocity, and current velocity is analyzed by adding the ship oil spill, which provides the decision basis for the ship oil spill emergency treatment. Through numerical experiments, it is found that the averaged flow velocity has a greater influence on oil spill diffusion, and the oil spill speed has a smaller influence on diffusion. When the sea ice concentration is located at 30-50%, sea ice has a certain obstruction to oil spill diffusion in more open waters, and when the sea ice concentration is greater than 80%, the obstruction effect is obvious, and when the sea ice concentration is 100%, the oil spill diffuses on the lower surface of sea ice.