Numerical Monitoring of Oil Spill Scenarios in Augusta Harbour

A Eulerian model is used to describe oil slick transport in the Augusta Harbour, considering evaporation and emulsification weathering processes. Different wind conditions, crude oil types, spill locations and volumes have been considered, for a total of 198 scenarios investigated. The results show that, within a few hours, the contaminant strongly interact with the coastline, with up to 17km of coastline exposed to the pollutant in the worst scenario; in the case of large oil spill, the sea surface covered by oil is around 2 square kilometre in the first twelve hours, then it dramatically rises to 8 square kilometre in the worst scenario.