Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 48-216B, 15 Vassar St. (for overnight deliveries only), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Dr. Eric Adams
Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 48-216B, 15 Vassar St. (for overnight deliveries only), Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
One method for minimizing climate change is to capture CO2 from power plants and inject it into the deep ocean, thus reducing the magnitude and rate of change of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere and the surface ocean. Many discharge options are possible, with varied mixing and retention characteristics. The ocean's capacity is vast, and mathematical models suggest that injected CO2 could remain sequestered for several hundred years. While theoretical and laboratory studies support the viability of ocean storage, field experiments are necessary to realistically evaluate the environmental impact.
This paper presents direct measurements of multiphase plumes in stratification and correlates characteristic plume properties with the nondimensional slip velocity UN . UN is defined as the ratio of the bubble slip velocity us to a characteristic plume fluid rise velocity (BN)1∕4 ; B is the total kinematic buoyancy flux, and N is the buoyancy frequency. UN is derived by dimensional analysis and is compared to other nondimensional parameters for multiphase plumes in the literature. To investigate correlations of the nondimensional numbers with plume properties, laboratory experiments were conducted in linear stratification using dispersed phases of air, oil, and glass beads (creating an inverted plume). A new type of plume behavior is identified, called Type 1* , in which the horizontal motion in the first detrainment event disperses the relatively weak bubbles, creating a diffuse bubble plume that forms out of the intrusion. Measurements from these and previous experiments for type behavior, trap height, ...