Assessing ecological risks of produced water discharge in waves

Ocean waves can generally increase the initial dilution of produced water and subsequently affect the ecological risk. To study the wave effects on ecological risk, a probabilistic based buoyant jet dispersion model has been integrated with risk analysis software, @ RISK, to assess ecological risk for a case corresponding to published parameters for the White Rose field, off east coast of Canada. The ecological risks on sheepshead minnows were evaluated by conducting Monte Carlo simulation for four different discharge scenarios. The Hazard Quotients (HQs) method was used to characterize the risk. Contour plots of probability distributions of HQs from those four discharge configurations were compared and discussed. The wave effects were identified by comparison of the wave and no wave simulations.