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Updated: Mar 18, 2026

Experimental Procedure for Laboratory Studies of In Situ Burning : Flammability and Burning Efficiency of Crude Oil
Published on: May 1, 2018
How oil properties and layer thickness determine the entrainment of spilled surface oil
Marieke Zeinstra-Helfrich1, Wierd Koops2, Albertinka J Murk3
1Dept. Maritime, Marine, Environment & Safety, NHL University of Applied Sciences, P.O. Box 1080, 8900 CB Leeuwarden, The Netherlands; Environmental Technology sub-department, Wageningen University, P.O. Box 17, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Viscosity plays an important role in dispersion of spilled surface oil, so does adding chemical dispersants. For seven different oil grades, entrainment rate and initial droplet size distribution were investigated using a plunging jet apparatus with coupled camera equipment and subsequent image analysis. We found that amount of oil entrained is proportional to layer thickness and largely independent of oil properties: A dispersant dose of 1:200 did not result in a significantly different entrainment rate compared to no dispersants. Oil viscosity had a minor to no influence on entrainment rate, until a certain threshold above which entrainment was impeded. The mean droplet size scales with the modified Weber number as described by Johansen. The obtained results can help improve dispersion algorithms in oil spill fate and transport models, to aid making an informed decision about application of dispersants.
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