A modified steady-state model for evaluation of ammonia concentrations behind a water curtain

Water curtain system has been proved an effective mitigation measurement for ammonia spill dispersion. Calculating of ammonia cloud concentration with water curtain was less studied. This paper presents a steady-state calculation model to calculate open and forced ammonia spill dispersion. The formula of ammonia absorption was built and integrated into the calculation model. The calculated downwind ammonia concentrations for open and forced spill dispersion were reproduced and compared with literature using a statistical method. In addition, the relationship between ammonia concentration in water droplet and the droplet diameter was studied. The results display that the formula of ammonia absorption is suitable for calculating mass transfer process between the ammonia cloud and the water curtain. The calculation model presents good performances for open and forced ammonia spill dispersion. This study indicates that the calculation model can be satisfactory in determining the impact of open and forced ammonia spill dispersion and the design of water curtain mitigation system.     

3-D dispersion model for simulation of accidental toxic gas releases in a metropolitan area

Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations were performed to assess the potential chlorine leak scenario in the super-urban area of South Korea, where the human population density is very high and numerous buildings exist near operational water treatment facilities. Flame acceleration simulator (FLACS) was used to predict the consequence from accidental chlorine releases out of one of the water treatment facilities for the nearby area having a size of 5 km × 3 km approximately. The ability to precisely implement 3-D geometries is crucial for a successful 3-D simulation. Thus, a method was proposed to rapidly and accurately implement geometry by importing computer aided-design (CAD) files provided by a government agency, and processing them using Auto CAD and MicroStation software programs. An accidental release from an 18-ton tank was simulated with three different wind directions to determine the expected evacuation distances. Results from the study showed that the endpoint distances varied depending on the density and arrangement of the buildings. Moreover, we employed physical barriers with varying heights for mitigating the effects of toxic gas releases and simulated how effectively they decreased the concentration of released chlorine.