事故树分析法在LPG储罐火灾爆炸事故中的应用

LPG(液化石油气)属于危险化学品之一,LPG储罐发生火灾爆炸的机率大,造成的损失比较严重,故对其火灾爆炸事故进行研究具有重要意义。LPG储罐爆炸根据其发生机理分为化学爆炸(燃爆)和物理爆炸两种模式。本文通过对LPG储罐燃爆﹑物理爆炸两类事故进行系统分析,建立了以LPG储罐燃爆、物理爆炸为顶事件的事故树。通过对其事故树的定性分析,得到了影响顶事件的各个最小割(径)集。通过计算底事件的结构重要度,确定了影响LPG储罐火灾爆炸事故的主要因素,并提出了相应的改进措施,进而提高LPG储罐的安全性和运行可靠性。     

现行标准下某在用LPG卧式储罐的设计制造和检验分析

液化石油气卧式储罐是我国石油化工行业常用的储存设备,其设计检验和评估分析尤为重要.本文以公司某超期服役的在用LPG卧式储罐为例,结合TSG R21-2016《固定式压力容器安全技术监察规程》等现行国家标准和规定对其进行了设计制造和检验验收的再分析,最后根据最新的全面检验结果对该LPG储罐现阶段服役状况进行了分析总结,符...     

液化石油气站储罐区火灾爆炸危险性分析与安全措施

选择具体的液化石油气储配站,分析了该站的危险特性、危险产生的途径及可能造成的后果。在没有任何防护措施的情况下,采用蒸气云爆炸和沸腾液体扩展蒸气云爆炸模型,对该站一个50m3储罐发生泄漏造成的火灾爆炸事故后果进行预测,得出火灾爆炸后的安全距离为大于211．0m。在储配站不能满足此安全距离的基础之上,从防止产生爆炸性气体环境、消除点火源和抑制事故扩大三方面来提出有效的安全措施,降低事故发生的概率及事故造成的损失。其中,站址选在全年最小频率风向的上风侧且周围空旷的地区,罐上设置液位计、压力表、温度计及可燃气体报警器可防止产生爆炸性气体环境;罐及管道设静电接地,法兰用铜线跨接,站内设警示标志可消除点火源;生产区与辅助区间设置隔离墙,罐区周围设置砖混围堤,罐上设安全阀可抑制火灾爆炸事故扩大。     

环氧丙烷储罐空气泡沫灭火试验研究

环氧丙烷为低沸点水溶性可燃液体,由于其饱和蒸汽压大,灭火困难,此前,国内外未对环氧丙烷进行过大型工程应用灭火试验研究。为研究空气泡沫对环氧丙烷储罐的灭火性能,分别对环氧丙烷进行了0．25m^2油盘探索性试验、1．73m^2油盘泡沫灭火剂选型试验和直径3．5m储罐工程应用灭火试验。试验结果表明,空气泡沫难以扑灭环氧丙烷储罐火灾,在直径3．5m储罐上,虽然采用了灭火性能较好的泡沫液,且使用了较大的供给强度和较长的供给时问,但仍难灭火。在试验基础上,对环氧丙烷储罐的消防要求提出了建议。     

大型LPG罐区火灾爆炸事故后果评估

针对大型LPG(液化石油气)储罐区潜在的火灾爆炸危险性，建立了喷射火、火球、UVCE爆炸和BLEVE爆炸的数学伤害模型，对其发生火灾、爆炸后人员和建筑(设备)所受到的伤害和损伤进行了定量后果评估。     

冷冻堵漏法在危险化学品泄漏事故中的应用

为了研究液化气体泄漏冷冻堵漏的堵漏机制,运用流体力学、传热学等知识对液化石油气（LPG）储罐（槽罐）泄漏时泄漏口处产生局部低温的现象进行了研究,探讨了LPG液相泄漏和气相泄漏2种不同泄漏形式的低温效应。结果表明:液相泄漏时,泄漏口处温度下降程度与泄漏口面积成正比,且随着罐体内部压力的减小而减弱,推导出喷水冷冻堵漏的成冰时间公式;气相泄漏时,对罐内压力与温度的平衡关系进行模拟并建立了数学模型;发现由于LPG气、液相之间对流换热和汽化吸热效应的差异,导致液相与气相之间的温度差,此温度差是罐体外壁产生结霜分层现象的主要原因。     

LPG船液货泄漏事故风险评估系统研究

通过对液化石油气(LPG)船舶液货舱泄漏事故危险度因素分析,建立液化气液体货物泄漏源强、蒸气释放源强和蒸气扩散计算模型,并制定泄漏事故风险评价流程,基于VB语言编写泄漏事故风险评估系统。利用该系统能够计算得出泄漏事故发生后蒸发气在不同时刻不同区域的蒸发气浓度、爆炸或火灾后对生命财产的伤害半径以及伤害程度等相关参数。对某航行状态下的LPG实船进行模拟分析,结果表明能够对LPG船舶泄漏事故进行有效风险评估,并能对船舶航行安全应急预案的制定和事故后海事鉴定提供一定的技术帮助。     

Insight into the safety distance of ground and underground installations in typical petrochemical plants

Petrochemical plants are continuously turning into large-size corporations, the installations of facilities show a developing trend from ground to underground because of the difference in land using rate. In this regard, the safety distance of petrochemical equipment buried in both ground and underground cases were investigated based on risk assessment. As a case study, gasoline tank and LPG tank set on the ground and underground are singled out to compare the risks involved. The research showed that the setting case of installation had a great influence on safety distance. Two cases have 80% reduction of equivalent safety distance compared with the rest of the cases. It was found that when the gasoline storage tank was placed underground alone, the PLL value decreased by 36.7%. Only LPG tank was placed underground, and the PLL decreased by 6.33%, and the gasoline and LPG storage tanks were placed underground simultaneously, the PLL value declined by 42.3%. Thus, the layout of plants could be further optimized, which can greatly improve the performances of land use efficiency and safety. In addition, this paper, the selection of embedding methods and the sensitivity of underground case to overpressure was resumed from two aspects: soil properties and burial depth. For the soil properties, it was found that the water saturated sandy soil with high air content and the low density unsaturated sandy soil had better effects on weakening overpressure. Such properties are particularly beneficial to reducing the occurrence rate of accidents. In terms of burial depth, it can be observed that as the burial depth was changed from 0.5m to 1.1m, the value of overpressure has dropped dramatically. When the burial depth was 2m, the damage to personnel and buildings has been greatly reduced beyond 2m from the explosion center.     

火灾爆炸危险指数法的应用

介绍了运用火灾爆炸危险指数法对液化石油气储罐和加油站内埋地汽油罐进行安全评价的实例，主要是估算其发生爆炸可能影响的范围以及所造成的损失，并提出相应的安全对策。     

On the thermal rupture of 1.9 m propane pressure vessels with defects in their thermal protection system

This paper describes the results from a series of fire tests that were carried out to measure the effect of defects in thermal protection systems on fire engulfed propane pressure vessels.

In North America thermal protection is used to protect dangerous goods rail tank-cars from accidental fire impingement. They are designed so that a tank-car will not rupture for 100 min in a defined engulfing fire, or 30 min in a defined torching fire. One common system includes a 13 mm blanket of high-temperature ceramic fibre thermal insulation covered with a 3 mm steel jacket. Recent inspections have shown that some tanks have significant defects in these thermal protection systems. This work was done to establish what levels of defect are acceptable from a safety standpoint.

The tests were conducted using 1890 l (500 US gallon) ASME code propane pressure vessels (commonly called tanks in the propane industry). The defects tested covered 8% and 15% of the tank surface. The tanks were 25% engulfed in a fire that simulated a hydrocarbon pool fire with an effective blackbody temperature of 870 °C.

The fire testing showed that even relatively small defects can result in tank rupture if the defect area is engulfed in a severe fire, and the defect area is not wetted by liquid from the inside. A wall failure prediction technique based on uniaxial high-temperature stress rupture test data has been developed and agrees well with the observed failure times.     

基于热-结构耦合分析的液化石油气储罐失效预警判定*

为研究火灾中球罐应力场分布情况,找到球罐失效破裂条件,以液化石油气为研究对象,基于球罐稳态热响应,通过ANSYS热-结构耦合有限元分析法进行研究。结果表明:充装率85%的液化石油气球罐最高温度部位出现在气相区,约619.66 ℃;最大应力值出现在气液交界处,约615.18 MPa;得到球罐破裂失效时温度值和应力值,并设置2次预警值。研究结果可为液化石油气储罐失效预警提供参考和判定依据。     

An experimental study of an LPG tank at low filling level heated by a remote wall fire

This paper describes an experimental study of 2300 L pressure vessels exposed to remote fire heating by a natural gas fuelled wall fire simulator. The tanks were filled to 15% capacity with commercial liquid propane. The flame intensity and distance were varied to study the effect of different heating levels on the tank and its lading.The fire simulator is first characterized with tests including fire thermocouples, radiative flux meters and thermal imaging. With the appropriate positioning of a target tank it is possible to get very realistic fire heat fluxes at the tank surface.Three tests were conducted with the 2300 L tanks filled to 15% capacity with propane. The tanks were positioned at three different distances from the wall fire resulting in measured average peak heat flux at the tank surfaces ranging between 24 and 43 kW m^?2. The data shows rapid rise in vapour space wall temperatures, significant temperature stratification in the vapour space, and moderate rate of pressure rise. These results provide excellent data for the validation of computer models used to predict the response of pressure vessels exposed to moderate heating from a remote fire.     

Study of the situation deduction of a domino accident caused by overpressure in LPG storage tank area

The production and storage of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is gradually becoming larger and more intensive, which greatly increases the risk of the domino effect of an explosion accident in a storage tank area while improving production and management efficiency. This paper describes the construction of the domino effect scene of an explosion accident in an LPG storage tank area, the analysis of the characteristics of the LPG tank explosion shock wave and the target storage tank failure, and the creation of an ANSYS numerical model to derive the development trend and expansion law of the domino accident in the LPG storage tank area. The research showed that: 400 m³ tank T1 explosion shock waves spread to T2, T4, T5, T3, and T6, and the tank overpressures of 303 kPa, 303 kPa, 172 kPa, 81 kPa, and 61 kPa respectively. The critical values of the target storage tank failure overpressure-range threshold were 70 kPa and 60 m. After the explosion of the initial unit T1 tank, at 38 ms, the T2 and T4 storage tanks failed and exploded; at 56 ms, the T5 storage tank exploded for the third time; at 82 ms, the T3 storage tank exploded for the fourth time; and at 102 ms, the T6 storage tank exploded for the fifth time. With the increase of explosion sources, the failure overpressure of the target storage tank increased, and the interval between explosions continuously shortened, which reflected the expansion effect of the domino accident. The domino accident situation deduction in the LPG storage tank area provided a scientific basis for the safety layout, accident prevention and control, emergency rescue, and management of a chemical industry park.     

Pressure and temperature increase of LPG in a thermally coated pressure vessel exposed to fire: Experimental and model results

Damage caused by incidents with transport tanks with compressed liquified gas is amongst the most extreme that can be encountered with transport vessels. This is particularly the case with the Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion (BLEVE), which may occur if such a tank is exposed to fire for a prolonged period. Therefore, the local Dutch LPG transport sector adopted a thermally insulating tank coating as a ‘standard outfit’ for their tank trailers, with the aim to delay a BLEVE for a sufficiently long period for emergency services to take appropriate measures and for people near the accident location to be evacuated. On a European scale however, no consensus has been reached on the cost-benefit of such measures.With the current drive towards “greener” and renewable energy sources, this issue has regained attention with alternative fuels such as LNG, CNG and Hydrogen and a need was felt for (better) theoretical models and experimental data concerning the behavior of transport tanks carrying these substances.In this paper a new tank thermal (equilibrium) model is described to predict pressure and temperature behavior of a multi layered, thermally insulated tank containing a compressed liquified gas exposed to heat. Results are compared with data of three bonfire experiments, in which 3 m³ tanks, filled for ca. 50% with LPG were exposed to fire. A good match between modelled and experimental pressure and temperature evolution in time could be obtained using a constant value for the thermal conductivity of the insulation layer. The modelling showed that the thermal insulation value is crucial for an accurate prediction of these parameters as well as the opening time for a pressure safety valve. As relevant temperatures may cover a very wide range (from cryogenic in LNG-tanks to over 1000 °C in a fire) knowledge of the thermal (and physical) behavior of the insulating layer over a large temperature range is essential.The same holds for the behavior of the PRV when subjected to fire. Extreme temperatures may also lead to deviating behavior from what is expected based on the initial settings.     

On the mechanism of a BLEVE occurrence due to fire engulfment of tanks with overheated liquids

The BLEVE (boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion) effect that involves the formation of a fireball occurs at the engulfment by fire of a tank with a highly flammable liquid or a liquid gas. Heating of the tank causes elevation of the liquid phase temperature and pressure inside the tank. A partial rupture of the dry tank walls is possible, with the formation of a rarefaction wave propagating into the liquid phase. An evaporation wave moves after the rarefaction wave and cause a rapid increase of pressure, exceeding the initial pressure before depressurization. Rapid violent destruction of the tank occurs. The mechanism of a BLEVE initiation is considered using Van der Waals isotherms. The following criterion for the possibility of a BLEVE was formulated. If the final state is located on an unstable part of the Van der Waals isotherm, a BLEVE takes place. Limiting values of the temperatures for overheating of certain highly flammable liquids and liquid gases (propane, n-butane, n-pentane, isopentane) were calculated using the proposed method, and were found to be in good agreement with experimental data available in the literature.     

Case study: Assessment on large scale LPG BLEVEs in the 2011 Tohoku earthquakes

After the 2011 Tohoku earthquakes, several chemical and oil complexes on the Pacific Ocean shoreline of northeast Japan experienced massive losses. In Chiba, a refinery operated by Cosmo Oil lost 17 LPG storage vessels which were either heavily damaged or totally destroyed by fires and explosions in the refinery. These large vessels ranged in size from 1000 to 5000 m³. The estimated volume of LPG at the time of the incident was between 400 and 5000 m³ for each vessel. Five boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions (BLEVEs) of LPG occurred, resulting in huge fire balls measuring about 500 m in diameter.A BLEVE is defined as the explosive release of expanding vapor and boiling liquid when a container holding a pressure-liquefied gas fails catastrophically. It is thus important to estimate the physical properties of superheated liquids: the thermodynamic and transport properties, the intrinsic limits to superheating and depressurization, and the nature of thermodynamic paths. Also it is hoped to provide better understanding of the vessels designed, manufactured, installed, and operated to reduce or eliminate the probability that a sequence of events will result in BLEVE or loss of primary containment. Knowledge of these matters is still incomplete. The objective of this research is to estimate the significant BLEVE phenomenon in very large scale spherical vessels based on published information in Japan. There are some models predicting BLEVEs. However, it is essential to know if this is true for very large scales such as spheres since validation is usually rare to provide confidence in estimating the superheated liquids behaviors. To this end, comparing with the information on this event, the conditions in the five LPG vessels at the time of the BLEVE were determined in terms of: duration of vessel failure (time to BLEVE); mass fraction in the vessel with time; temperature distribution in the liquid and vapor region and pressure within the vessel (e.g. initial pressure and internal high-speed transient pressure during failure), by means of a computer program AFFTAC Analysis of Fire Effects on Tank Cars, which solves heat conduction, stress and a failure model of the tank, a thermodynamic model of its fluid contents, and a flow model for the lading flowing through the safety relief device. Subsequently, the consequences from the sphere BLEVE, such as the expected fireball diameter and duration and the expected blast overpressure produced by the BLEVE failures, are also subjects of active research. Here the blast using the methods of PHAST and SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering was calculated.Results suggest that methodologies here used gave reasonable estimations for such real and huge BLEVEs in a validated way, which may provide valuable guidance for risk mitigation strategy with regard to LPG facility in design, emergency planning, resiliency, operations, and risk management.     

The boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion

The boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE) has existed for a long time and for most of this time it has been cloaked in mystery. Several theories have been put forward to explain this very energetic event but none have been proven. This paper describes a series of tests that have recently been conducted to study this phenomenon.

The study involved ASME code automotive propane tanks with nominal capacities of 400 litres. The tanks were exposed to a combination of pool and/or torch fires. These fire conditions led to thermal ruptures, and in some cases these ruptures resulted in BLEVEs. The variables in the tests were the pressure-relief valve setting, the tank wall thickness, and the fire condition.

In total, 30 tests have been conducted, of which 22 resulted in thermal ruptures. Of those tanks that ruptured, 11 resulted in what we call BLEVEs. In this paper, we have defined a BLEVE as the explosive release of expanding vapour and boiling liquid following a catastrophic tank failure. Non-BLEVEs involved tanks that ruptured but which only resulted in a prolonged jet release.

The objective of this study was to investigate why certain tank ruptures lead to a BLEVE rather than a more benign jet-type release. Data are presented to show how wall temperature, wall thickness, liquid temperature and fill level contribute to the BLEVE process.     

Mutual effects between dynamic leakage behavior and the pressure/temperature in a LNG tank with external heat fluxes

The objective of this work is to investigate and model the mutual effects between the dynamic pressure/temperature in the LNG tank and the leakage behavior with external heat fluxes. The results suggest that the pressure and temperature in tank during leakage change with the comparison results between the heat flux consumed in liquid boil-off and the external heat flux supplied. At the liquid leakage stage, when the external heat flux is not very high, the pressure in tank tends to increase significantly, even results in tank explosion. It increases more and more heavily with higher and higher external heat fluxes. At the vapor leakage stage, large amount of vapor spray out, which results in a high generation rate of vapor by the liquid boil-off. The pressure in tank normally decreases to be low, which is unfavorable for the LNG tank explosion. Therefore, at this vapor leakage stage, blocking the leakage hole as soon as possible is not always a right choice for fire fighters. Finally, it is suggested that reducing the heat flux into the tank, either at the liquid leakage stage or in vapor one, is key to the tank safety.     

大型原油储罐设计中主要安全问题及对策

大型原油储罐储量很大,潜在危险性高,一旦发生事故,损失将十分惨重。为此,在分析了大型原油储罐工程危险性的基础上,重点论述了大型原油储罐设计中的主要安全问题及其对策,包括储罐地基和基础、浮顶储罐密封装置、信号报警联锁系统、排水设计、防腐蚀措施等,特别针对大型原油储罐的特点,详细讨论了浮盘沉底事故原因并介绍了预防浮盘沉底的设计要求,为工程设计提供了有价值的参考依据。