Experimental study of water-oil-boom interaction and failure events

Oil spill caused by maritime accidents can damage valuable ecosystems and have a huge economic impact on fishing and tourism industries. In order to minimize the damage it is important to predict the trajectory of the spilt oil slick and use an effective clean-up strategy. Oil booms represent a valid solution, but their performance has a limitation in sufficiently strong currents and high sea waves. This motivated research efforts in the development of suitable prediction tools useful for the design and for setting the operative limits of these devices. Experiments are instead more difficult to perform. However some relevant studies have been documented along the years, most of them in 2D conditions, with fixed boom and in steady current. For example, Delvigne (1989) studied a scaled boom interacting with different types of oil and identified the failure mechanisms involved. A comprehensive documentation of full- and model-scale tests in 2D and 3D conditions is provided e.g. by Grilli et al. (2000).