摘要：Abstract
Background
Produced water from offshore oil and gas platforms is often disposed of directly into the sea, and there has been concern that this discharge might have deleterious effects on the marine environment. To help understand the patterns of dispersion and dilution of produced water discharges, and their potential effects, a combined modeling and monitoring study was conducted.
Results
Chemical analysis of representative produced water samples recovered from the Sable Offshore Energy Project (SOEP) Venture platform showed elevated concentrations of several organic and inorganic compounds of environmental concern; however, of the 25 stations sampled within 500 m of the platform, only one station, NE50, located 50 m to the northeast, showed chemicals associated with produced water at levels significantly above background values. The Dose-related Risk and Effect Assessment Model (DREAM) was used to evaluate the fate and transport processes of produced water after discharge. The results revealed that the near background level concentrations detected at the 26 stations were due to sampling outside the narrow plume boundary. This indicated that there was no accumulation of pollutants near the platform except inside the narrow plume.
Conclusion
The comparison of modeled and empirical data showed that the DREAM model can effectively predict plume behaviour. The results agreed well with the monitoring data and simulated the location of the plume as it changed continuously with the tidal currents. The model illustrated that elevated concentrations within the produced water plume occur only near the vicinity of the discharge.
关键词：KeywordsEnProduced waterMonitoringModelingDispersionScotian ShelfSable offshore energyVenture platformSimulationOil and gasDischargeMarine environment
