Resumen de The Fate of BTEX Diluted in the Macondo Blowout

Rubén A. Rodriguez, Serguei A. Lonin

• The following paper presents the results of blowout numerical modeling formulated in Eulerian coordinates with a special emphasis on the 3D distribution of diluted benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX). The Eulerian approach is applied only to the liquid phase of a stratified water column with 3D dynamics. The hydrodynamic model used simulates the spatial–temporal conditions of the Macondo’s well accident in the Gulf of Mexico in June 2010. The model’s domain is limited by −89.125278 to 88.485833°W and 28.516944 to 27.894167°N. The development of the Lagrangian plume model provides information on the trajectories of oil droplets of different diameters (between 600 and 800 μm) that compose the plume, as well as for conceptualizing an Eulerian model for the fate of the diluted BTEX. The generated output of the model agrees with field measurements by order of magnitude for the benzene concentrations in the affected area of the Macondo´s well. The results of the investigation show that BTEX was dissolved in deep waters and it was part of the main toxic hydrocarbon compounds, not detectable by remote sensors or visual observations.