Failure of a horizontal pressure vessel containing a high temperature liquid: the velocity of end-cap and rocket missiles

Many process plant installations include cylindrical vessels which contain high temperature liquids with the remaining space above occupied by vapour or a vapour/gas mixture. If such a pressure vessel were to be ruptured, missiles (i.e. fragments) may be generated and equipment in the vicinity put at risk. There is a particular threat from large missiles. Theoretical models have been developed to describe the peak velocity achieved by end-caps and `rocket' missiles generated by the circumferential failure of a vessel. The end-cap missile model assumes that the action of the escaping vapour/liquid on the end-cap is analogous to a missile driven by a gas jet from a constant pressure source. The `rocket' missile velocities are derived via a simple approximation to the impulse applied to the internal face of the closed end of the `rocket'. Experiments have confirmed the validity of these approaches and upper limit values to end-cap and `rocket' velocities have been defined.     

Expansion-controlled evaporation: a safe approach to BLEVE blast

A new method is presented to calculate the blast effects originating from an exploding vessel of liquefied gas. Adequate blast calculation requires full knowledge of the blast source characteristics, i.e., the release and consequent evaporation rate of the flashing liquid. As the conditions that allow explosive evaporation are not entirely clear and the evaporation rate of a flashing liquid is unknown, safe assumptions are the starting point in the modelling. The blast effects from a BLEVE are numerically computed by imposing the vapour pressure of a flashing liquid as boundary condition for the gas dynamics of expansion. The numerical modelling is quantitatively explored just for liquefied propane. In addition, it is demonstrated that often an estimate of BLEVE blast effects is possible with very simple acoustic volume source expressions.

The modelling shows that the rupture of a pressure vessel containing a liquefied gas in free space only develops a blast of significant strength if the vessel nearly instantaneously disintegrates. Even if a rupture and the consequent release and evaporation of a liquefied gas extend over just a short period of time, the blast effects are minor.     

动载下石灰岩能耗指标影响因素研究*

为研究石灰岩在动载破坏过程中的能量耗散,基于Φ50 mm的霍普金森压杆系统,对石灰岩开展三轴动静加载冲击试验,深入分析入射能、反射能、透射能、耗散能、能耗率与轴压、围压、应变率（冲击气压）之间的关系,并借助灰色关联理论分析石灰岩围压、应变率、纵波波速与能耗特征的关联。研究结果表明:入射能和耗散能均与应变率呈正向增长趋势,且耗散能应变率相关性更强;能耗率与围压呈反向增长趋势,低围压条件有利于石灰岩的破碎;能耗程度与冲击气压、围压、纵波波速的关联度分别为0.729 9,0.705 4,0.581 5,围压和冲击气压的灰色关联度大于0.6,因此围压和冲击气压对石灰岩能量耗散特征有显著影响。研究结果对于喀斯特地貌石灰岩爆破施工具有重要的参考价值。     

Prediction of the relief of gas explosion in a tubular vessel by venting using a mathematical model

The relief of a gas explosion in a tubular vessel by venting can be predicted by using a mathematical model. In this model, the flame acceleration is represented by an increase in the burning velocity. The movement of a vent cover can be included. The model assumes that the vent is blocked by the vent cover prior to the explosion. the venting ratio was the most influential parameter in terms of relieving the pressure. In the case of a large venting ratio, the flame acceleration made a highly significant contribution, whereas for small venting ratios, the weight of the vent cover contributed to the relief more than the flame acceleration. When the pressure is required to be reduced significantly, the venting ratio, the vent open pressure and the weight of the vent cover must all be reduced.     

Experimental study on the influence mechanism of gas seepage on coal and gas outburst disaster

By using the self-developed triaxial servo-controlled seepage equipment for thermo-fluid-solid coupling of coal containing gas and the self-developed coal and gas outburst simulation test device, experiments to study the influence mechanism of gas seepage on coal and gas outburst disasters. The results show that: (i) gas seepage decreases the strength of coal containing gas and accelerates its failure process; (ii) under the same gas pressure, the confining pressure is larger, the more difficult the gas flows and the greater the intensity of coal containing gas is; (iii) in the process of coal and gas outburst, the greater the vertical ground stress is, the more powerful the outburst will be; (iv) the influence mechanism of gas seepage on coal and gas outburst disasters is as follows: firstly, gas seepage weakens the mechanical properties of coal body, which makes it much easier for coal and gas outburst to occur; secondly, on the same effect of external force, it will be easy to form a high gas pressure zone in the coal body under the difficult condition of gas seepage, and accumulate more gas compression energy, which is the energy source for coal and gas outburst, and it is also the main dynamic source to throw and grind the coal.     

Small-scale physical explosions in shock tubes in comparison with condensed high explosive detonations

A series of small-scale experiments involving physical explosions in a 1.6 l pressure vessel was carried out. Explosions were initiated by spontaneous rupture of an aluminium membrane on one side of the vessel at a pressure in the range 1–1.2 MPa. The pressure waves released were measured at different distances along two separate shock tubes, one 10 m long and 200 mm in diameter (closed at one end by the high pressure vessel) and the other 15 m long and 100 mm in diameter.TNT equivalency was used for predicting the blast wave characteristics after vessel rupture. TNT equivalency was used because equations for prediction of peak pressure and impulse of the blast wave in 1-D geometry after detonations of condensed explosives are known. Some experiments with an equivalent amount of real explosive were carried out for comparison with the theoretical and experimental data obtained. The applicability of the TNT equivalency method presented for calculations of maximum pressure and shock wave impulse generated after rupture of the pressure vessel in 1-D geometry is discussed.     

连通容器气体密闭爆炸与泄爆过程的实验研究

利用球型容器与管道组合,开展连通容器气体爆炸与泄爆实验,分析连通条件下,火焰在管道中的传播过程及其对起爆容器和传爆容器的压力影响。实验结果表明:连通容器气体爆炸中,火焰从起爆容器到传爆容器传播经历了一段不断加速,但加速度不断减小的过程;泄爆过程中,火焰传播过程与密闭爆炸时基本一致。管道中火焰加速传播,使得传爆容器的爆炸压力和强度相较于作为起爆容器时均明显增加,危险更大,采用与起爆容器相同的泄爆面积,无法满足对连通容器中传爆容器的泄爆。同时,泄爆是一个快速的能量泄放过程应选择合理的泄爆方式,防止二次危害。     

Experimental study on water sealing of fire barriers and explosion venting of large-scale pipeline with low-concentration gas

Low-concentration gas transported in pipelines may lead to explosion accidents because gas with a concentration of less than 30% is prone to explode. To reduce the incidence of gas explosions, water sealing of fire barriers is implemented, and explosion venting devices are installed along the pipeline. To investigate their suppression effect on low-concentration gas explosion, experiments using methane–air premixed gas under different conditions were implemented on a DN500 pipeline test system. The effects of three types of explosion venting forms (rupture disc, asbestos board, and plastic film) on explosion overpressure and flame were compared and analysed. Results show that the rupture disc, asbestos board, and plastic film can achieve adequate explosion venting, causing the peak decay rates of explosion overpressure to reach 82.37%, 81.72%, and 90.79%, respectively. The foregoing indicates that the greater the static activation pressure of the explosion venting form, the higher the peak explosion overpressure at each measurement point. Moreover, the shorter the explosion flame duration, the greater the flame propagation velocity. The research results provide an essential theoretical foundation for the effective suppression of gas explosion accidents in the process of low-concentration gas transportation.     

基于能量理论的煤与瓦斯突出机理探讨

为研究煤与瓦斯突出的力学机理和能量来源,根据理想气体状态方程,推导了采场围岩瓦斯突出过程中的瓦斯压力、瓦斯含量与对外做功的关系,基于弹塑性力学,阐明了岩体弹塑性状态转化前后应变能释放机理。研究结果表明:煤与瓦斯突出是瓦斯势能与煤岩体弹性能共同作用并转化为煤岩体动能的结果;瓦斯势能释放值与释放路径无关,而与瓦斯压力和瓦斯含量相关,与煤壁前方塑性区扩展规模相关;将其应用至1次特大型煤与瓦斯突出事故中,核算的突出煤量、瓦斯含量和煤体抛出速度基本吻合于实际结果;基于理论分析提出了煤与瓦斯突出的3项防治措施,一是通过钻孔卸压或瓦斯抽放减小瓦斯压力,二是增加极限平衡区距离或减小截深,三是避免高瓦斯巷道或工作面出现蝶形塑性破坏。     

Laminar burning velocities of hydrogen–air mixtures from closed vessel gas explosions

The laminar burning velocity of hydrogen–air mixtures was determined from pressure variations in a windowless explosion vessel. Initially, quiescent hydrogen–air mixtures of an equivalence ratio of 0.5–3.0 were ignited to deflagration in a 169 ml cylindrical vessel at initial conditions of 1 bar and 293 K. The behavior of the pressure was measured as a function of time and this information was subsequently exploited by fitting an integral balance model to it. The resulting laminar burning velocities are seen to fall within the band of experimental data reported by previous researchers and to be close to values computed with a detailed kinetics model. With mixtures of an equivalence ratio larger than 0.75, it was observed that more advanced methods that take flame stretch effects into account have no significant advantage over the methodology followed in the present work. At an equivalence ratio of less than 0.75, the laminar burning velocity obtained by the latter was found to be higher than that produced by the former, but at the same time close enough to the unstretched laminar burning velocity to be considered as an acceptable conservative estimate for purposes related to fire and explosion safety. It was furthermore observed that the experimental pressure–time curves of deflagrating hydrogen–air mixtures contained pressure oscillations of a magnitude in the order of 0.25 bar. This phenomenon is explained by considering the velocity of the burnt mixture induced by the expansion of combusting fluid layers adjacent to the wall.     

The propagation speed of the cracks in coal body containing gas

The destabilization of coal body containing gas that is caused by the quick propagation of the cracks in coal body containing gas and the high pressure gas, which result into coal and gas outburst. Thus, according to the theory of brittleness rupture mechanics the propagation speed calculation formula of the cracks in coal body containing gas is derived under constant stress and the mechanism of the cracks propagation is analyzed. The propagation speed of the cracks in coal body containing gas is calculated by the experimental work. The research results show that gas pressure make the cracks propagation easier, which is consistent with the analysis result of the propagation speed calculation of the cracks. As well as the propagation speed of the cracks increase with the augment of gas pressure.     

Experimental investigation of gas explosion in single vessel and connected vessels

Gas explosion in connected vessels usually leads to high pressure and high rate of pressure increase which the vessels and pipes can not tolerate. Severe human casualties and property losses may occur due to the variation characteristics of gas explosion pressure in connected vessels. To determine gas explosion strength, an experimental testing system for methane and air mixture explosion in a single vessel, in a single vessel connected a pipe and in connected vessels has been set up. The experiment apparatus consisted of two spherical vessels of 350 mm and 600 mm in diameter, three connecting pipes of 89 mm in diameter and 6 m in length. First, the results of gas explosion pressure in a single vessel and connected vessels were compared and analyzed. And then the development of gas explosion, its changing characteristics and relevant influencing factors were analyzed. When gas explosion occurs in a single vessel, the maximum explosion pressure and pressure growth rate with ignition at the center of a spherical vessel are higher than those with ignition on the inner-wall of the vessel. In conclusion, besides ignition source on the inner wall, the ignition source at the center of the vessels must be avoided to reduce the damage level. When the gas mixture is ignited in the large vessel, the maximum explosion pressure and explosion pressure rising rate in the small vessel raise. And the maximum explosion pressure and pressure rising rate in connected vessels are higher than those in the single containment vessel. So whenever possible, some isolation techniques, such as fast-acting valves, rotary valves, etc., might be applied to reduce explosion strength in the integrated system. However, when the gas mixture is ignited in the small vessel, the maximum explosion pressures in the large vessel and in the small vessel both decrease. Moreover, the explosion pressure is lower than that in the single vessel. When gas explosion happens in a single vessel connected to a pipe, the maximum explosion pressure occurs at the end of the pipe if the gas mixture is ignited in the spherical vessel. Therefore, installing a pipe into the system can reduce the maximum explosion pressure, but it also causes the explosion pressure growth rate to increase.     

Thermal interaction analysis in pipeline systems: A case study

The assessment of the consequences of high pressure releases of flammable gases is a fundamental requirement for the safe design and operation of industrial installations, plants and pipework. A scenario of interest concerns a high pressure jet-fire following the ignition of a gas jet release which results in a thermal loading to the surroundings and possibly leads to accident escalation.

In the present paper, a case study is presented: two parallel-laid natural gas pipelines have been considered, the accidental scenarios which may possibly occur as a consequence of a pipeline failure have been discussed and the thermal effects caused by the jet-fire developing from different rupture sizes have been assessed.

Three scenarios have been analyzed, considering the pipelines being within a highly congested area: (i) large failure and vertical jet with detached flame; (ii) small failure with jet fire directly impinging on the parallel pipeline; (iii) small failure with pipeline engulfed within fire.

Once the temperature gradient through the pipeline wall has been found, the stresses deriving from pressure load and steel differential expansion have been analytically calculated and compared with the yielding stresses at the temperature achieved by the pipeline wall.

In the first scenario the pipeline is able to resist without major problems; in the second case the pipeline rupture is likely to occur; in the third scenario the pipeline resists to the applied loads but with a low margin to yielding.

It is understood that the analysis results are very much dependent on the utilized hypotheses, therefore a sensitivity analysis was performed in order to assess the variation of the results as a function of the variation of problem data; this analysis identifies the large influence of the parameters on the final result.     

Large scale experiments to study fires following the rupture of high pressure pipelines conveying natural gas and natural gas/hydrogen mixtures

As part of the EC funded Naturalhy project, two large scale experiments were conducted to study the hazard presented by the rupture of high pressure transmission pipelines conveying natural gas or a natural gas/hydrogen mixture containing approximately 22% hydrogen by volume. The experiments involved complete rupture of a 150 mm diameter pipeline pressurised to nominally 70 bar. The released gas was ignited and formed a fireball which rose upwards and then burned out. It was followed by a jet fire which continued to increase in length, reaching a maximum of about 100 m before steadily declining as the pipeline depressurised. During the experiments, the flame length and the incident radiation field produced around the fire were measured. Measurements of the overpressure due to pipeline rupture and gas ignition were also recorded. The results showed that the addition of the hydrogen to the natural gas made little difference to radiative characteristics of the fires. However, the fraction of heat radiated by these pipeline fires was significantly higher than that observed for above ground high pressure jet fires (also conducted as part of the Naturalhy project) which achieved flame lengths up to 50 m. Due to the lower density, the natural gas/hydrogen mixture depressurised more quickly and also had a slightly reduced power. Hence, the pipeline conveying the natural gas/hydrogen mixture resulted in a slightly lower hazard in terms of thermal dose compared to the natural gas pipeline, when operating at the same pressure.     

压力容器气体非稳态泄漏模型研究

为计算气体在非稳态泄漏过程中的泄漏率,提高危害后果评估的量化水平,对压力容器失效后气体泄漏过程进行了研究。基于现有的初始泄漏率模型,结合实际泄漏过程中压力容器内各项状态参数的动态变化规律,构建气体非稳态泄漏模型,并通过计算实例进行分析和验证。结果表明,该模型可计算压力容器气体非稳态泄漏过程中(包括音速泄漏阶段和亚音速泄漏阶段)任意时刻容器内的各项状态参数值和孔口处气体的平均泄漏率;同时,对于储存压力较高(大于3.0 MPa)的容器,提出近似计算总平均泄漏率的2种简化方法。     

管道内瓦斯爆炸传播的试验研究

运用大型试验管道对瓦斯爆炸传播规律进行试验研究,并对瓦斯爆炸压力峰值、火焰速度和呈现时间进行分析,得出:在不出现爆轰的前提下,爆源点附近的压力峰值是全管道的最大值;爆炸压力峰值在沿管道的传播过程中从爆源点附近是先增大后减小,然后再逐渐增大且压力峰值最早呈现在出口附近;火焰传播速度随着传播距离的增大而逐渐增大且在爆炸初期增大速率更快;瓦斯浓度对爆炸压力峰值、火焰传播速度和呈现时间等都有重要影响。     

悬浮法氯乙烯聚合工艺的风险分析及安全技术

悬浮法聚合氯乙烯生产过程的主要风险是氯乙烯的"暴聚"事故和氯乙烯泄漏事故.聚合反应散热不足,温度过高导致"暴聚"事故.易燃易爆有毒的氯乙烯泄漏可能引发氯乙烯蒸汽云爆炸和火球(BLEVE)事故.以某PVC化工厂氯乙烯聚合釜生产为例,定量计算氯乙烯小孔泄漏量、蒸汽云及BLEVE火球的事故伤害与破坏后果.提出避免导致"暴聚"事故3种安全技术措施:良好的聚合釜反应散热降温;足够的搅拌强度和防止"粘釜"等.防止引发氯乙烯泄漏的3种途径为反应釜轴封、超压泄压时跑料和压力容器及管道的防泄漏技术.     

T型管道不同封闭状态瓦斯爆燃火焰传播特征

为了研究分岔管道不同封闭状态下瓦斯爆燃火焰阵面传播规律,在自制的T型透明分岔管道内,设置支管端口完全封闭、直管左端口弱封闭,采用光电传感器和压力传感器测试了直管右端弱封闭、完全封闭2种情况下,预混甲烷-空气可燃气体爆燃火焰传播过程中速度、超压参数的变化情况。结果表明:由于分岔的存在,2种封闭状态在支管端点火后瓦斯爆燃火焰阵面在支管中的传播速度均先增大后减小;直管右端弱封闭时,经过分岔后火焰加速向直管两端传播速度基本一致,分别达到86.29 m/s和88.07 m/s;直管右端完全封闭时,火焰向弱封闭端传播速度增大至166.67 m/s,火焰向完全封闭端传播时并不断压缩未燃气体产生高压振荡反馈导致火焰振荡传播现象,火焰速度不断减小至4.84 m/s;管道内瓦斯爆燃超压均迅速上升到达峰值,之后受压缩气体的膨胀和冲击后爆燃产物的振荡作用迅速下降。     

Fragility assessment of bottom plates in above ground storage tanks during flood events

This study aims to improve the fundamental understanding on the performance of bottom plates in above ground storage tanks (ASTs) during flood events. To this end, fragility models that estimate the probability of material yielding and rupture in the bottom plates were derived. A significant number of ASTs are located in coastal areas and are susceptible to hurricane hazards. Consequently, ASTs have suffered severe damage during past hurricanes resulting in spills with catastrophic environmental and social impacts. Therefore, several failure modes such as flotation, buckling, and sliding have been studied in past research. However, the literature lacks studies that consider the failure of bottom plate due to uplift pressure generated during floods and there are no design guidelines to address this issue. To address this gap, fragility functions that provide the probability of failure as a function of tank geometry, material properties, design parameters, and hazard conditions were developed herein. For this purpose, Latin Hypercube Sampling was performed to span the space of these parameters uniformly. For each parameter combination, maximum stresses in bottom plates were determined using analytical formulations for simply supported and clamped boundary conditions and were compared against two different failure thresholds. The results were used to develop a closed form fragility model using step wise logistic regression. Fragility functions were applied to four case study tanks. Sensitivity analysis were performed to understand the impacts of different probability density functions for various variables on the bottom plates’ fragility. The results provided several insights such as ASTs with larger diameter were vulnerable to bottom plate failure. Comparison with other failure modes revealed that the probability of bottom plate failure was higher than flotation failure for anchored ASTs with clamped boundary condition.     

爆炸冲击波作用下圆形通风设施的动态破坏特性

为了研究瓦斯爆炸对通风设施造成的严重破坏及其导致的通风系统紊乱与灾情迅速扩展问题,基于LS-DYNA有限元软件,模拟研究巷道中瓦斯爆炸冲击波作用下圆形通风设施的动态破坏特性,分析应力、应变、速度、位移的动态特征及其破坏过程,并对圆形通风设施动态破坏机理进行初步探索。研究结果表明:爆炸冲击波作用下,圆形通风设施正、反面出现压应力与拉应力分布圆环,且压应力与拉应力峰值处于在外部受约束边界径向圆环附近区域与圆心位置,应变、速度和位移最大值均分布在次区域;爆炸冲击波作用下,通风设施表面形成多圈的正向和反向的应变相互交替,呈现W型的褶皱变形;爆炸冲击波作用下,环向裂纹集中在受约束的边界区域附近,发生脆性破坏,其他区域会出现较多的径向裂纹,可发生韧性破坏,整个断裂过程是脆性与韧性断裂的混合型断裂。