Small-scale experiments performed at SINTEF, Norway in 2011–12 led to the development of a modified Weber scaling algorithm. The algorithm predicts initial oil droplet sizes (d₅₀) from a subsea oil and gas blowout. It was quickly implemented in a high number of operational oil spill models used to predict fate and effect of subsea oil releases both in academia and in the oil industry.

This paper presents experimental data from large-scale experiments generating oil droplet data in a more realistic multi-millimeter size range for a subsea blow-out. This new data shows a very high correlation with predictions from the modified Weber scaling algorithm both for untreated oil and oil treated by dispersant injection.

This finding is opposed to earlier studies predicting significantly smaller droplets, using a similar approach for estimating droplet sizes, but with calibration coefficients that we mean are not representative of the turbulence present in such releases.

2011-12年在挪威SINTEF进行的小规模实验导致开发了改进的Weber缩放算法。该算法根据海底油气井喷预测了初始油滴大小（d ₅₀）。在大量用于预测学术界和石油行业中海底石油泄漏的命运和影响的运行中的溢油模型中很快实施了该方法。

本文介绍了大规模实验的实验数据，这些实验产生的油滴数据在更现实的多毫米尺寸范围内，适用于海底井喷。这些新数据显示出与未经处理的油和通过分散剂注入处理的油的改进的Weber缩放算法的预测高度相关。

这一发现与早期的研究预测相反，该研究使用相似的方法估算液滴尺寸，但预测的液滴明显较小，但是我们的校准系数并不代表这种释放中存在的湍流。