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UTILITY OF BUOYANT PLUME MODELS IN PREDICTING THE INITIAL DILUTION OF DRILLING FLUIDS
Citation:
Ozretich, R. AND D. Baumgartner. UTILITY OF BUOYANT PLUME MODELS IN PREDICTING THE INITIAL DILUTION OF DRILLING FLUIDS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/D-90/186 (NTIS PB91132837).
Description:
Three computer programs, PLUME, OUTPLM, and DKHPLM, have been used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and municipalities to estimate initial dilutions of sewage discharged into marine environments. odification of the input parameters for the three programs, while maintaining the appropriate gravitational direction and ambient density gradient, permitted the use of the programs to predict the centerline dilution, trap depth, and maximum penetration of negatively buoyant fluids. rilling fluids and other negatively buoyant fluids were discharged downward into a 4000-liter tank of stratified, static seawater to obtain verification data. ime-lapse photographs were taken through a window, and replicate synoptic samples were obtained through 3-7 sampling ports along the centerline of the fully developed plumes. amples were analyzed gravimetrically for total solids and spectrophotometrically for soluble components. he conclusions were (1) all three computer program predictions were in good agreement with the measurements and observations made on a limited number of representative plumes generated in the hydraulic model, and (2) the solid and soluble components of the tested drilling fluids appeared to dilute at dissimilar rates within the buoyancy and momentum-dominated initial dilution phase.