Experimental study and prediction of liquid nitrogen pool evaporation process on concrete surface

The vaporization rate of pool boiling process of a liquid nitrogen spilled on concrete surface was investigated by a visual experiment platform. The boiling curve for liquid nitrogen on concrete cooling process was obtained. The shapes of bubbles in three typical boiling regimes were observed. Based on the experimental results, the coefficients of the empirical formulas for nuclear boiling and film boiling are modified, and the empirical formulas for boiling of liquid nitrogen-concrete surfaces are obtained. Combined with the calculation formula of the non-steady-state semi-infinite one-dimensional heat conduction temperature, a coupled calculation model for the heat transfer and vaporization process of liquid pool on the liquid nitrogen-concrete surface is proposed. Application of this model can better predict the quality of liquid nitrogen vaporization.     

Experimental study of the evaporation of spreading liquid nitrogen

The investigation of cryogenic liquid pool spreading is an essential procedure to assess the hazard of cryogenic liquid usage. There is a wide range of models used to describe the spreading of a cryogenic liquid pool. Many of these models require the evaporation velocity, which has to be determined experimentally because the heat transfer process between the liquid pool and the surroundings is too complicated to be modeled. In this experimental study, to measure the evaporation velocity when the pool is spreading, liquid nitrogen was continuously released onto unconfined concrete ground. Almost all of the reported results are based on a non-spreading pool in which cryogenic liquid is instantaneously poured onto bounded ground for a very short period of time. For the precise measurement of pool spreading and evaporation weight with time, a cone-type funnel was designed to achieve a nearly constant liquid nitrogen release rate during discharge. Specifically, three nozzles with nominal flow rates of 3.4 × 10⁻² kg/s, 5.6 × 10⁻² kg/s and 9.0 × 10⁻² kg/s were used to investigate the effect of the release rate on the evaporation velocity. It is noted that information about the release rate is not necessary to measure the evaporation velocity in case of the non-spreading pool. A simultaneous measurement of the pool location using thermocouples and of the pool mass using a digital balance was carried out to measure the evaporation velocity and the pool radius. A greater release flow rate was found to result in a greater average evaporation velocity, and the evaporation velocity decreased with the spreading time and the pool radius.     

Modeling of a cryogenic liquid pool boiling by CFD simulation

A boiling model is developed by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code to calculate the source term of a cryogenic liquid spill. The model includes the effect of the changing ground temperature on the vaporization rate of the cryogenic liquid. Simulations are performed for liquid nitrogen. The model can describe different boiling regimes (film, transition and nucleate). The heat flux calculated for each boiling regimes are compared to the experimental data from literature. The developed numerical model seems to have a good ability to predict the heat flux for the film boiling stage. Model development is still necessary to improve the prediction of the nucleate boiling regime. Overall, the approach shows very promising results to model the complex physical phenomena involved in in the vaporization of cryogenic liquid pool spilled on ground.     

Small-scale experimental study of vaporization flux of liquid nitrogen released on ice

One of the LNG accident scenarios is the collision of an LNG carrier on an iceberg during marine transportation. A collision can result in damages to the vessel and lead to the leakage of the contents on ice or an ice-water mixture. When cryogenic liquid comes in contact with ice, it undergoes rapid vaporization due to the difference in temperature between the ice and cryogenic liquid. This process is different from the heat transfer between water and cryogenic liquid as ice is a solid and thus heat transfer to the pool occurs primarily through conduction. In this paper, the heat transfer phenomenon between ice and cryogenic liquid was studied through a small-scale experiment and the resulting vaporization mass fluxes were reported. The experiment involved six spills with varying amount of liquid nitrogen on different ice temperature to determine its effect on vaporization mass flux. The vaporization mass fluxes were determined by direct measurement of the mass loss during the experiment. The results indicated that the vaporization mass flux was a function of release rate and ice temperature. When the release rate and ice temperature was high, the vaporization mass flux follows a decreasing trend. With further reduction in release rate and ice temperature, the vaporization mass flux was found to be independent with time. The one dimensional conduction model was validated against experimental results. The predicted temperatures and heat flux were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Development of heat transfer and evaporation model of LNG covered by Hi-Ex foam

Natural gas is a kind of clean, efficient green energy source, which is used widely. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is produced by cooling natural gas to −161 °C, at which it becomes the liquid. Once LNG was released, fire or explosion would happen when ignition source existed nearby. The high expansion foam (Hi-Ex foam) is believed to quickly blanket on the top of LNG spillage pool and warm the LNG vapor to lower the vapor cloud density at the ground level and raising vapor buoyancy. To identify the physical structure after it contacted with LN₂ and to develop heat transfer model, the small-scale field test with liquid nitrogen (LN₂) was designed. In experiment, three layers including frozen ice layer, frozen Hi-Ex layer and soft layer of Hi-Ex foam were observed at the steady state. By characterizing physical structure of the foam, formulas for calculating the surface of single foam bubble and counting foam film thickness were deduced. The micro heat transfer and evaporation model between cryogenic liquid and Hi-Ex foam was established. Indicating the physical structure of the frozen ice layer, there were a certain number of icicles below it. The heat transfer and evaporation mathematical model between the frozen ice layer and LNG was derived. Combining models above with the heat transfer between LNG, ground and cofferdam, the heat transfer and evaporation mathematical model of LNG covered by Hi-Ex foam was developed eventually. Finally, LN₂ evaporation rate calculated by this model was compared with the measured evaporation rate. The calculated results are 1.2–2.1 times of experimental results, which were acceptable in engineering and proved the model was reliable.     

Laboratory scale analysis of the influence of different heat transfer mechanisms on liquid nitrogen vaporization rate

The prediction of the potential hazards associated to accidental liquefied natural gas (LNG) spills has motivated a number of different studies including experimental and numerical approaches. Most of these studies focus on dispersion predictions, however there is limited information regarding source term of it: liquid spill and vaporization. There is a need of further improvements on the understanding of these phenomena and the quantification of the most important parameters that can affect them.The vaporization of cryogenic liquids is governed by the heat transfer phenomena including conduction, convection and thermal radiation mechanisms. The present work investigates the contribution of each of these heat transfer modes to the vaporization rate of cryogenic liquid nitrogen (LN₂) contained in a Dewar flask using well controlled and instrumented laboratory scale experiments. LN₂ vaporization rate was measured with individually controllable contributions from convective (generated by an electric fan) and thermal radiative (generated by light bulb) heat transfer in the presence of a baseline conductive heat transfer rate.In both cases of convection and radiation analysis the experimental study showed that they can play a significant role in the vaporization rate of LN₂. It was observed that the radiative heat absorbed by the LN₂ during the vaporization experiment represents only 50%–65% of the incident radiation that would reach the LN₂ pool surface if no vapour was present. Convective heat transfer generated by the fan was shown to have had the most significant contribution to the total heat transfer. As expected, this contribution was significantly higher than the one from bulb radiation. The experimental data also showed that the liquid level in the Dewar play a key role in the resulting amount of convective heat transfer. This could be attributed to the fact that lower liquid level the side walls of the Dewar were high enough to hold a layer of vapour and limit air motion directly above the liquid surface, thus limiting the heat transfer by convection.     

Numerical simulation of the thermal inertia of an adiabatic reaction calorimeter in reaction thermal safety process

Obtaining accurate thermal risk assessment parameters of chemical processes and substance properties is essential for improving the safety of chemical production and substance use and storage, and the adiabatic reaction calorimeter (ARC) has been employed by many researchers for this purpose. However, with the improvement and upgrading of the instrument, an examination of the factors that affect its detection accuracy is warranted. A simplified reaction model of the adiabatic thermal decomposition of tert-butyl peroxyacetate was constructed using computational fluid dynamics in which the adiabatic thermal decomposition kinetic model and fluid-solid coupling model were combined to simulate heat transfer. To verify the reliability of the parameters of the numerical calculation model, the effects of the sample cell's material, wall thickness, and mass were investigated in relation to the thermal inertia of the ARC. The results indicated that the thermal inertia of the system was lowest when the sample cell was composed of titanium. When the sample pool's composition is determined, the thermal inertia of the system can be reduced to a certain extent through an approximate increase in the sample mass. Finally, an analysis of the heat flow cloud diagram of the wall of sample pools made from different materials revealed that the thermal conductivity of titanium was high; this information can assist in controlling the adiabatic process.     

The modelling of pool vaporization

This paper describes a mathematical model which calculates the time dependencies of the flow rate and composition of the vapour emerging from a pool. A large variety of accidental cases can be covered: continuous or instantaneous spills, on confined or unconfined ground, ideal or non-ideal liquid mixtures in boiling or evaporating conditions. The boiling, when present, is modelled through an equation system comprising the Rachford-Rice relation and the energy balance of the pool, which is assumed to be well-mixed. In the case of a volatile pool, interfacial mass rates are determined taking into account the Stefan flux, and the thermal resistance inside the liquid phase is also considered. In all situations, the energy balance includes the contribution of ground, sun and air. Known experimental data have been used to validate the model.     

不同通风条件下柴油池火的实验研究

为了分析不同通风条件对柴油池火燃烧特性及引燃特性的影响,进行205 mm带水垫层柴油池火的引燃实验,通过对池火燃料的质量损失速率、火焰高度、温度及热辐射等的监测,分析通风环境中柴油池火的热传递规律。结果表明:当风速为0.5 m/s时,火灾进入旺盛阶段的时间提前,火焰平均温度最高;当风速为1 m/s时,风速的增加导致油池火的质量损失速率增加,位于主火源下风向的待引燃火源获得的热辐射通量增大,火灾旺盛阶段火焰的平均温度降低,火焰高度降低,下风向相邻油盘引燃的时间提前;1 m/s情况下,205 mm带水垫层柴油池火的安全间距需增加到1D以上;通风环境对池火发展及蔓延的影响是显著的,应适当加大下风向可燃物的安全间距,合理选择通风排烟风速,优化火灾应急救援策略。     

Modeling of pool spreading of LNG on land

This paper presents a source term model for estimating the rate of spreading of LNG and other cryogenic mixtures on unconfined land. The model takes into account the composition changes of a boiling mixture, the varying thermodynamic properties due to preferential boiling within the mixture and the effect of the various boiling regimes on conductive heat transfer. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to determine the relative effect of each of these phenomena on pool spread. The model is applied to continuous and instantaneous spills. The model is compared to literature experimental data on cryogenic pool spreading.     

障碍物后池火与水喷淋相互作用的数值模拟

采用大涡模拟方法数值模拟了障碍物后池火与水喷淋的相互作用问题，研究目的是探讨水喷淋对障碍物后池火的控制和抑制的有效性，以及障碍物对流动特性和温度场的影响。文中采用低马赫数近似下三维可压缩滤波形式的Navier—Stokes方程和组分方程进行有限差分数值求解，燃烧过程中所产生的热释放采用携带燃烧反应热的Lagrangian粒子(热元模型)来模拟。文中数值模拟了风洞内障碍物后热源产生的热气流及其与水喷淋的相互作用，并探讨了在有无水喷淋情况下的温度场和速度场特性，以及喷水装置位置对温度场的影响。     

Numerical simulation of small-scale pool fires of LNG

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been largely indicated as a promising alternative solution for the transportation and storage of natural gas. In the case of accidental release on the ground, a pool fire scenario may occur. Despite the relevance of this accident, due to its likelihood and potential to trigger domino effects, accurate analyses addressing the characterization of pool fires of LNG are still missing.In this work, the fire dynamic simulator (FDS) has been adopted for the evaluation of the effects of the released amount of fuel and its composition (methane, ethane, and propane), on the thermal and chemical properties of small-scale LNG pool fire. More specifically, the heat release rate, the burning rate, the flame height, and thermal radiation, at different initial conditions, have been evaluated for pool having diameter smaller than 10 m. Safety distances have been calculated for all the investigated conditions, as well.Results have also been compared with data and correlations retrieved from the current literature. The equation of Thomas seems to work properly for the definition of the height over diameter ratio of the LNG pool fire for all the mixture and the investigated diameters.The addition of ethane and propane significantly affects the obtained results, especially in terms of radiative thermal radiation peaks, thus indicating the inadequacy of the commonly adopted assumption of pure methane as single, surrogate species for the LNG mixture.     

Investigation of the decomposition reaction and dust explosion characteristics of crystalline dicumyl peroxide

The dicumyl peroxide (DCP) is widely used as a polymerization initiator, catalyst and vulcanizing agent in the chemical industry. A number of accidents have been caused by its thermal instability in storage or manufacturing process. Thus, its hazard characteristics have to be clearly identified. First of all, the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) is used to measure the heat of decomposition reaction, which can contribute to understanding the reaction characteristics of DCP. The accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) is used to measure the rates of temperature and pressure rises of decomposition reaction, and then the kinetics parameters are estimated. Furthermore, the MIKE 3 apparatus and the 20-l-Apparatus are used to measure and analyze the dust explosion characteristics of DCP at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Finally, Semenov's thermal explosion theory is applied to investigate the critical runaway condition and the stability criterion of decomposition reaction, and to build the relationship of critical temperature, convective heat transfer coefficient, heat transfer surface area and ambient temperature. These results contribute to improving the safety in the reaction, transportation and storage processes of DCP.     

浸油沙层火焰传播速度研究

使用0#柴油和沙层作为燃料和地面模型,通过实验研究了泄漏液体燃料渗透在地面之后的火焰传播现象.详细研究了燃料床中沙粒直径、燃烧盘宽度及一端施加辐射热对火焰传播速度的影响,并使用热电偶测量了沙层表面火焰前沿到达时的温度以及沙层表面能够达到的最高温度.结果表明,燃料渗漏在地面的火焰传播速度明显低于液池火灾的火焰传播速度,且改变沙油质量比、燃烧盘的宽度及外界热辐射直接影响火焰传播速度.     

高温热表面油液蒸发的时变性热质传递模型与实验研究

针对高温热表面油液蒸发热质传递过程的时变性,考虑这一过程中的对流传质传热,建立了热环境作用下油液蒸发的热质传递模型方程,通过无量纲变换,求得空间浓度分布和温度场随时间的变化规律。以庚烷为试验对象,对高温热表面油液蒸发过程进行了实验研究。理论分析与实验表明:庚烷蒸发过程中,刘易斯数大于1,传热速率大于传质速率;蒸发导致的质量损失与时间平方根的成正比,与液面的面积成正比,且与质量扩散系数的平方根成正比,饱和蒸气浓度越大,蒸发速率也越大。油液蒸发计算结果与试验结果基本一致,表明了模型的有效性。     

基于监测数据的土壤源热泵系统设计优化分析

针对建筑中地源热泵系统实际地下换热过程复杂、设计困难等问题,以苏州地区某浅埋式地源热泵系统为研究对象,运用TRNSYS软件搭建地源热泵仿真模型,对一定条件下埋管内冷却水流速与地源热泵系统性能的耦合关系进行了模拟分析。仿真结果表明相同蓄热体积下埋管深度对系统性能影响较小。增大冷却水流速有利于土壤温度恢复,但系统耗电量增加。该浅埋式地源热泵系统冷却水流速1~2 m/s均在合理范围内,且埋管深度越大,最佳设计流速越小。     

烃类池火灾热辐射量化分析模型探讨

为澄清有关烃类池火灾热辐射量化分析模型选择中存在的问题,针对"池火计算方法"模型进行量纲分析和物理意义方面的讨论,提出该模型在概念使用、量纲关系、热释放速率的计算以及池火焰模化等方面存在的问题。系统阐述点源模型、Shokri-Beyler模型、Mudan模型等常用烃类池火灾热辐射通量分析模型的适用条件和应用范围。点源模型适用于被辐射目标物从池火焰接受的热辐射通量小于5 kW.m-2情况下池火灾热辐射的量化分析;Shokri-Beyler模型主要应用于估算被辐射目标物从池火焰接受的热辐射通量大于5 kW.m-2的情况;Mudan模型可用于估算无风或有风条件下被辐射目标物从池火焰接受的热辐射通量。     

某850kW水平轴风力发电机机舱火灾模拟与分析

采用火灾动力学模拟器软件和性能化防火设计理论,基于实际事故案例分析,设计针对某850 kW水平轴风力发电机机舱的典型火灾场景,建立池火灾模型,对额定风速(13 m/s)下机舱内该类型火灾的发生和发展过程进行研究,模拟计算机舱内火灾的热释放速率、温度场和速度场等参数,探讨进气口风速对火灾热释放速率和温度场等的影响。结果表明:封闭条件下,从齿轮箱底部发展起来的油池火灾热释放速率在62.4 s时达到最大值(757 kW),持续燃烧93 s后降至0;齿轮箱附近部件遭受火灾破坏最为严重,喷射油料二次燃烧导致火强度变大并加剧了火灾的破坏程度。额定风速下,齿轮箱附近软管喷射油料未出现二次燃烧现象,但火灾后期热释放速率在335 s内达到4 000 kW;以火源为分界面,火源前方区域温度(406~567℃)明显高于后方区域温度(177~279℃);顶部通风口承受全部热流,机舱罩顶部温度最终达到930℃,并出现轰燃。     

Underwater LNG release: Does a pool form on the water surface? What are the characteristics of the vapor released?

One of the scenarios of concern in assessing the safety issues related to transportation of LNG in a marine environment (ship or underwater pipeline) is the release of LNG underwater. This scenario has not been given the same level of scientific attention in the literature compared to surface releases and assessment of consequences therefrom. This paper addresses questions like, (1) does an LNG spill underwater form a pool on the water surface and subsequently evaporate like an LNG spill “on the surface” producing cold, heavier than air vapors?, and (2) what is the range of expected temperatures of the vapor, generated by LNG release due to heat transfer within the water column, when it emanates from the water surface?Very limited data from two field tests of LNG underwater release are reviewed. Also presented are the results from tests conducted in other related industries (metal casting, nuclear fission and fusion, chemical processing, and alternative fuel vehicles) where a hot (or cold) liquid is injected into a bulk cold (or hot) liquid at different depths.A mathematical model is described which calculates the temperature of vapor emanating at the water surface, and the liquid fraction of released LNG that surfaces, if any, to form a pool on the water surface. The model includes such variables as the LNG release rate, diameter of the jet at release, depth of release and water body temperature. Results obtained from the model for postulated release conditions are presented. Comparison of predicted results with available LNG underwater release test data is also provided.     

Modeling of variations in nitrogen trichloride concentration over time in swimming pool water

In water, chlorine reacts with nitrogen-containing compounds to produce disinfection by-products such as nitrogen trichloride which induces ocular and respiratory irritations in swimming pool workers. This study proposes a model to predict variations in NCl₃ concentration over time in a traditional indoor swimming pool as a function of its operating parameters and attendance. The model was developed taking into consideration the reaction mechanisms, thermodynamic equilibria, physico-chemical properties, and transfer mechanisms occurring at the pool's surface. This model was validated through a robust series of experiments over two days and two nights in a real swimming pool. The model was found to satisfactorily predict variations over time in the concentrations of the chemical species investigated, including nitrogen trichloride. The work presented constitutes a first step to extend the model at different swimming pools. This approach may also be used to study the influence of the main operating parameters and to evaluate the impact of setting up water treatment systems on nitrogen trichloride concentration.