A hybrid numerical model system of LCO₂ and CO₂ enriched seawater dynamics in the ocean induced by moving-ship releasing

A numerical modeling system has been developed, based on an engineering background, of the direct disposal of liquid carbon dioxide into the ocean by a moving-ship, to predict the physico-chemical dynamics of liquid carbon dioxide droplets and carbon dioxide enriched seawater in the ocean. This is a hybrid simulation model system consisting of a three-dimensional small-scale near-field model and a two-dimensional horizontal turbulent dispersion model. The dynamics near to release sites include double-plume creation, interaction, evolution, and coupling with ocean currents; these are described by using two-fluid large-eddy simulation technology. The further development of carbon dioxide enriched seawater, as a passive-inert scalar, in relatively larger spatial and time scales (28 × 28 km and up to 100 h) is then simulated by a horizontal turbulent dispersion model. For the case of liquid carbon dioxide release at a depth of 2000 m with mass flow rate of 100 kg/s and initial droplet diameter of 8.0 mm, and with ship speed of 3.0 m/s, the model predicts a vertically separated carbon dioxide enriched seawater plume, 330 m in height and 40 m in width at time about 1 h after release with a minimum pH of 6.20 corresponding to carbon dioxide concentration of 0.18 kg/m³, in the surrounding area. This carbon dioxide enriched seawater plume diffused turbulently in the horizontal surface to an area of 9.8 × 10.5 km² after 100 h.