Explaining the dynamics of gas-saturated live petroleum in deep water remains a challenge. Recently, Pesch et al. [ Environ. Eng. Sci. 2018, 35 (4), 289–299] reported laboratory experiments on methane-saturated oil droplets under emulated deep-water conditions, providing an opportunity to elucidate the underlying dynamical processes. We explain these observations with the Texas A&M Oil spill/Outfall Calculator (TAMOC), which models the pressure-, temperature-, and composition-dependent interactions between oil–gas phase transfer; aqueous dissolution; and densities and volumes of liquid oil droplets, gas bubbles, and two-phase droplet–bubble pairs. TAMOC reveals that aqueous dissolution removed >95% of the methane from ∼3.5 mm live oil droplets within 14.5 min, prior to gas bubble formation, during the experiments of Pesch et al. Additional simulations indicate that aqueous dissolution, fluid density changes, and gas–oil phase transitions (ebullition, condensation) may all contribute to the fates of live oil and gas in deep water, depending on the release conditions. Illustrative model scenarios suggest that 5 mm diameter gas bubbles released at a <470 m water depth can transport methane, ethane, and propane to the water surface. Ethane and propane can reach the water surface from much deeper releases of 5 mm diameter live oil droplets, during which ebullition occurs at water depths of <70 m.

中文翻译：

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深水中的活油滴和天然气气泡的动力学。

解释深水中含气饱和石油的动力学仍然是一个挑战。最近，Pesch等人。[环境。。科学 2018，35（4），289–299]报告了在模拟深水条件下对甲烷饱和油滴进行的实验室实验，从而为阐明潜在的动力学过程提供了机会。我们用德克萨斯A＆M溢油/排污计算器（TAMOC）解释了这些观察结果，该模型可以模拟油气相转移之间压力，温度和成分相关的相互作用。水溶 以及液态油滴，气泡和两相液滴-气泡对的密度和体积。TAMOC揭示在Pesch等人的实验中，在气泡形成之前的14.5分钟内，水溶物从约3.5 mm的活油滴中去除了95％的甲烷。其他模拟表明，水溶解，流体密度变化以及气-油相变（沸腾，冷凝）可能会导致深层石油和天然气的命运，这取决于释放条件。说明性模型场景表明，在小于470 m的水深处释放的5 mm直径的气泡可以将甲烷，乙烷和丙烷传输到水面。乙烷和丙烷可从直径5毫米的活油滴的更深处释放而到达水表面，在此期间，水深<70 m时会发生沸腾。