Investigation of pool spreading and vaporization behavior in medium-scale LNG tests

A failure of a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker can occur due to collision or rupture in loading/unloading lines resulting in spillage of LNG on water. Upon release, a spreading liquid can form a pool with rapid vaporization leading to the formation of a flammable vapor cloud. Safety analysis for the protection of public and property involves the determination of consequences of such accidental releases. To address this complex pool spreading and vaporization phenomenon of LNG, an investigation is performed based on the experimental tests that were conducted by the Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center (MKOPSC) in 2007. The 2007 tests are a part of medium-scale experiments carried out at the Brayton Fire Training Field (BFTF), College Station. The dataset represents a semi-continuous spill on water, where LNG is released on a confined area of water for a specified duration of time. The pool spreading and vaporization behavior are validated using empirical models, which involved determination of pool spreading parameters and vaporization rates with respect to time. Knowledge of the pool diameter, pool height and spreading rate are found to be important in calculating the vaporization rates of the liquid pool. The paper also presents a method to determine the vaporization mass flux of LNG using water temperature data that is recorded in the experiment. The vaporization rates are observed to be high initially and tend to decrease once the pool stopped spreading. The results of the analysis indicated that a vaporization mass flux that is varying with time is required for accurate determination of the vaporization rate. Based on the data analysis, sources of uncertainties in the experimental data were identified to arise from ice formation and vapor blocking.     

Quantification of turbulence in cryogenic liquid using high speed flow visualization

A high speed flow visualization experiment was conducted to characterize the boiling induced turbulence when a cryogenic liquid is released on water. The advective transport of turbulent structures traversing through the liquid was captured and reconstructed using image processing software to obtain information on velocity components. The numerical results obtained from image processing were used to determine turbulence parameters like turbulent intensity, turbulent kinetic energy and eddy dissipation rate. An interesting aspect of the study was the formation of wavy structures called ‘thermals’ which were characteristic of turbulent convection. The thermals were found to act as a catalyst in increasing heat transfer and turbulence between water and cryogenic pool. The turbulent intensity was influenced by the turbulent velocity and had direct effects on the vaporization flux. Among the turbulence parameters, increase in turbulent kinetic energy resulted in faster vaporization of cryogenic liquid through enhanced mixing, whereas variations in the eddy dissipation rate had weak dependence on vaporization. Additionally, the initial height of cryogenic liquid was also found to strongly affect the vaporization mass flux.     

分析浮顶罐低液位控制对于蒸发损耗的影响

目前外浮顶及内浮顶罐在石油化工行业已被广泛地使用，其有效地控制了罐内储存油品的蒸发损耗．从而减少了对环境的污染。从减少蒸发损耗的角度出发，阐述了控制罐内低液位使得浮盘处于悬浮状态的重要性。     

煤层注水中水分蒸发现象的研究

对煤层注水的水分蒸发现象进行了研究 ;提出了注入水分蒸发的力学平衡公式 ;研究了影响水分蒸发的各项因素。在此基础上 ,提出了在注水钻孔中添加粘尘棒 ,阻止注入水分过早蒸发的新方法 ,并进行了纯水和粘尘棒溶液在煤体中蒸发的试验。     

喷雾过程液滴蒸发计算研究

对喷雾中流滴的蒸发过程进行详细地理论研究,同时建立相应的数学模型,以一种曲型的模型燃烧室结构作为工程计算背景,对包含蒸发的喷雾过程进行三维数值模拟,获得了喷雾液体蒸汽浓度场场强云图和等势线图。     

Speciation and quantification of vapor phases in soy biodiesel and waste cooking oil biodiesel

This study characterizes the compositions of two biodiesel vapors, soy biodiesel and waste cooking oil biodiesel, to provide a comprehensive understanding of biodiesels. Vapor phases were sampled by purging oil vapors through thermal desorption tubes which were then analyzed by the thermal desorption/GC/MS system. The results show that the compounds of biodiesel vapors can be divided into four groups. They include methyl esters (the main biodiesel components), oxygenated chemicals, alkanes and alkenes, and aromatics. The first two chemical groups are only found in biodiesel vapors, not in the diesel vapor emissions. The percentages of mean concentrations for methyl esters, oxygenated chemicals, alkanes and alkenes, and aromatics are 66.1%, 22.8%, 4.8% and 6.4%, respectively for soy biodiesel, and 35.8%, 35.9%, 27.9% and 0.3%, respectively for waste cooking oil biodiesel at a temperature of 25 ± 2 °C. These results show that biodiesels have fewer chemicals and lower concentrations in vapor phase than petroleum diesel, and the total emission rates are between one-sixteenth and one-sixth of that of diesel emission, corresponding to fuel evaporative emissions of loading losses of between 106 μg l⁻¹ and 283 μg l⁻¹. Although diesels generate more vapor phase emissions, biodiesels still generate considerable amount of vapor emissions, particularly the emissions from methyl esters and oxygenated chemicals. These two chemical groups are more reactive than alkanes and aromatics. Therefore, speciation and quantification of biodiesel vapor phases are important.     

石油储罐油气蒸发损耗的成因、危害及对策

油气蒸发威胁安全,蒸发的油蒸气易引发爆炸,从而导致油罐爆炸着火。油蒸气是气相烃类,属有毒物品,漂浮地面易致人窒息。油蒸气还易形成光化学烟雾的二次污染物。由于油蒸气的蒸发损耗,全世界每年散失于大气中的油气约为１×１０８吨,折合人民币２４００亿元。因其所蒸发的都是油料中的最轻组分且油气蒸发还严重影响成品油质量。笔者分析了油气蒸发损耗的危害、产生原因及各种影响因素,并提出了降低油气蒸发损耗的对策     

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.     

Modeling the vapor source term associated with the spill of LNG into a sump or impoundment area

The recent publication of evaluation protocols for vapor source term models and vapor dispersion models have influenced the modeling approaches that can be used for approval of new and expansion projects at LNG receiving terminals. In the past few years the scientific basis of integral vapor source term models has been questioned with growing concerns regarding their validity. In this paper, the shallow water equations (SWEs) were solved to study the characteristics of the evaporating LNG pool associated with a constant flow rate spill of LNG into a concrete sump. In the early stages of pool spreading, the leading edge thickness profile of the SWE model scales with the square root of the distance from the leading edge as the pool spreads. After the edge of the pool reaches the wall, the reflected wave forms a hydraulic jump that travels back towards the center of the pool at a speed that is considerably slower than the initial spreading of the pool. Once the hydraulic jump reaches the center, the pool assumes a nearly flat free surface for the rest of the spill. The pool spreading and the rate of evaporation from the SWEs were then compared to the solution provided by the integral model, PHAST. The two approaches were found to agree well with one another. The SWE model was also used to demonstrate the influence of an elevated spill source. With an elevated source, the LNG pool spreads faster, significantly increasing the initial rate of vaporization and peak vaporization rate. This increase in the initial rate of vaporization could lead to an increase in the vapor cloud hazard distance. The SWE model was also used to demonstrate the influence of an inclined sump floor in the shape of an inverted cone where the spilling LNG accumulates in the low vertex of the cone. Inclined sump floors can be used to significantly reduce the cumulative evaporation, making them attractive as a possible mitigation approach in cases where a containment sump is located close to a property boundary.     

喷雾碰壁液膜蒸发三维数值模拟

针对喷雾过程喷注碰壁形成的液膜蒸发现象进行研究,通过理论分析和实验为数据建立了相应的数值计算模型。在典型浴盆型燃烧室内,采用一个四孔喷嘴进行高压喷雾,给定初始涡流比和燃烧室壁四温度,对包含液膜蒸发的喷雾过程进行详细的三维数值模拟,获得了液滴轨迹图以及空气运动速度的空间分布和时间进程,为研究空气运动和壁温等参数对喷雾过程和液膜蒸发过程的影响以及它们之间的相互耦合作用打下了坚实的基础。