埋地输氢管道泄漏爆炸事故后果模拟分析

为了输氢管道的安全建设与运营,基于计算流体力学FLACS软件,模拟了埋地输氢管道在半受限空间内的泄漏爆炸事故后果,探讨了泄漏孔径、泄漏时长、输氢压力和环境风速对爆炸事故后果的影响规律,并得出相应的危险区域。结果表明:泄漏孔径、输氢压力和最大爆炸超压均与危险区域呈正相关关系,泄漏时长对事故后果几乎无影响;随着输氢压力的增大,危险区域受建筑物和风速的影响更为明显,在建筑物附近形成了狭长的危险区域带;最大爆炸超压和危险区域随环境风速的增大均呈现出先增大后减小的趋势。     

Real-time response system for the prediction of the atmospheric transport of hazardous materials

Human urge of exploiting earth resources has resulted into unprecedented industrial development in the last century resulting into production of large quantities of hazardous chemicals. Chemical, petrochemical, nuclear, biomedical and pharmaceutical industrial accidents release large quantities of hazardous chemicals into the atmosphere. The accidental discharge during production or storage or transportation have subjected the population to be exposed to exceptionally high concentration levels of hazardous chemicals, taking them by surprise, unprepared with fatal consequences. An emergency planning organization has to be trained to combat this situation in the shortest possible time to minimize the number of causalities. The present paper focuses on computation of dispersion model, using emission source, accident location and online metrological data near to the sources, to provide necessary and accurate results swiftly. The predicted ground level concentrations with the hazardous nature of the chemical, speed and direction of plume, the emergency team will be supplied with all the information in graphical easy to grasp form, superimposed over a GIS map or the latest satellite image of the area.

The emergency team has to be trained for all past scenarios and their preparedness, response and actions must be practiced regularly to be able to abate chemical releases accidentally or intentionally.

Accidental releases of chlorine and ammonia gases in residential and industrial areas are simulated. The predicted ground level concentrations in the effected areas are shown after different time intervals. For low vapor pressure chemical, the dispersion time is large and concentration levels are low but persist for prolonged time while for volatile chemical, the concentrations are high in short time and recovering to safe environment is quick.     

危险化学品仓储事故演化规律及消防力量需求研究

危险化学品仓储火灾事故复杂,处置难度大,易引发事故多米诺效应,对人民的生命和财产造成严重威胁。本文分析了危化品仓储火灾爆炸事故的演化规律和事故风险,结合事故案例剖析危化品仓储火灾爆炸事故后果及对周边区域的影响。针对危险化学品仓储火灾爆炸事故,建立危化品仓储火灾扑救泡沫需求评价二级指标体系,采用模糊层次分析法建立了泡沫灭火剂用量评价数学模型,并根据救援力量类别需求、各种应急救援装备与作战人员需求建立危化品火灾消防力量需求预测模型,准确预测危化品仓储事故消防力量需求。     

城区天然气管道泄漏数值模拟与爆炸危害分析

在人口密度为三级和四级的城区内,密集的高建筑物对天然气管道泄漏后的扩散和流场形成产生重要影响。本文以某城市的实际情况为例,建立多建筑物的空间几何模型,采用k-ε湍流方程,SIMPLE算法,模拟了在三种不同风流速度、三种不同压力条件下,城区天然气管道泄漏气体在多建筑物地形中的扩散情况。根据模拟结果,依据天然气的爆炸极限,对模拟结果及其火灾爆炸危害的范围进行了对比分析。结果表明,CH4气体的泄漏扩散同时受管道压力、风流速度和周围建筑物的影响;同时受当地风速的影响,泄漏气柱在风流作用下会发生偏折,造成阻挡风流的建筑物内侧危险气体浓度升高,大大增加建筑物周围环境的危险性。研究结果对城区天然气管道的建设具有一定的指导意义。     

室内丙烷连续泄漏扩散浓度变化的数值模拟

探究室内气体燃料泄漏后的扩散特性及危害范围的影响,采用CFD软件FLUENT对室内丙烷连续泄漏扩散浓度变化过程进行数值模拟,研究丙烷的浓度场分布和爆炸浓度范围的变化规律。结果表明:水平射流运动和重力对气体的扩散有显著的影响;墙壁对气体的扩散有阻碍作用,在近壁面处形成高浓度区域;爆炸危险区随泄漏时间的增加而先增大后减小。     

Simulation of scenario characteristics of LPG tank explosion accident and its contribution to emergency planning: A case study

Leakage and explosion of hazardous chemicals during road transportation can cause serious building damage and casualties, and adoption of highly-efficient emergency rescue measures plays a critical role in reducing accidental hazards. Considering a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) transport tanker explosion accident that occurred in Wenling, Zhejiang Province, China on June 13, 2020 as example, this study proposes a risk assessment framework. This framework recreates the leakage and explosion of the accident process using FLACS v10.9, suggests plans for evacuation, describes the rescue areas of different levels, and explores the influence of environmental factors on the evacuation and rescue areas. The results show that simulated and predicted distributions of fuel vapour cloud concentration and explosion overpressure can provide a reference basis for rapid rescue activities; the characterization of the dynamic effects of wind speed, wind direction, and temperature with respect to the evacuation and rescue areas can be used as theoretical support for on-site adjustment of rescue forces. The role of obstacles can prevent the expansion of the evacuation areas under low wind-speed conditions, and the presence of highly congested obstacles determines the level of the rescue area. The results obtained are important for the risk analysis and the development of emergency rescue measures in case of explosion accidents associated with transportation of hazardous chemicals on high-hazard and high-sensitive road sections.     

城市危险源爆炸灾害应急损失评估研究

采用冲击波伤害-破坏超压准则,首先确定了不同当量TNT炸药爆炸引起的人员伤害区域和建筑物破坏区域;再通过确定危险物爆炸所产生热量值的大小,将各种危险物料转化为相应当量的TNT炸药,可用于评估各种不同危险物料爆炸所造成的损失。同时,结合GIS软件平台,编制了爆炸灾害评估模拟程序。在软件平台中以图形的形式给出了设定条件下人员伤害区域及建筑物破坏区域的范围,根据区域内的人员分布和建筑物造价、财产多少,给出了定量的人员伤亡和经济损失应急评估。     

液化天然气(LNG)瞬时泄漏扩散的模拟研究

对液化天然气泄漏扩散过程进行了分析,考虑其泄漏后发生闪蒸时的液滴夹带以及混合空气量,将闪蒸完的状态作为箱模型的初始状态,考虑空气的湿度影响建立了重气扩散过程的箱模型,并应用实例进行了验证,得出了泄漏后有火灾爆炸危险性的区域以及距离泄漏源的位置,为应急救援预案的制定提供参考,模拟结果显示了重气扩散过程中的重力沉降,空气夹带等一般特征,同时云团初始闪蒸时的液滴夹带对云团的扩散行为具有一定的影响,不能忽略.最后提出了今后的研究方向.     

Investigative consequence analysis: A case study research of beirut explosion accident

Around 15:00 GMT on August 4th, an explosion occurred in the warehouse facility storing Ammonium Nitrate (AN) at Beirut port, Lebanon. The explosion resulted in more than 178 fatalities and injured more than 6500 people, and also left an estimated 300,000 people homeless and registered as an equivalent to a 3.3 magnitude earth quake. The accident was considered to be the largest of its kind and the most severe anthropological disaster of the decade, the financial loss the nation was subjected to post the explosion was estimated to be around $ 15 billion as informed by the governor. The storage conditions of ammonium nitrate at Beirut port is not definitively known to anyone, and there is no documentation provided so far from the authorities regarding the same. This work focuses on the investigation & consequence analysis of the explosion using TNT equivalent approach. The overpressure and the impulse obtained from TNT calculations are used in probit models to assess the damages caused on human beings and structures. The results obtained in this investigative approach are then utilized to provide an analytical inference relative to the damage proxy map reported by the advance rapid imaging analysis team from NASA. Also, this work examines the existing standards, fire safety measures and legal regulations for ammonium nitrate facilities in the region. AN explosion during storage like other fire and explosion accidents are definitely preventable owing to the technological advancements and developments to prevent or extinguish controllable fires. The significance of this work relates to the methods for calculation of consequences of explosion that are happening due to the storage of highly hazardous explosive materials in excessive quantities and insists the necessity of incorporating adequate safety measures while storing such reactive and hazardous materials.     

Recent trends in rock dust modifications for improved dispersion and coal dust explosion mitigation

Underground coal mine explosions is perhaps the most hazardous danger in the coal mining industries. Efforts have been made to abate the coal dust explosion by applying rock dust either dry or wet. Dry dust has the best lift characteristic which efficiently quenches the flame propagation of a potential explosion. As a trade-off, undesired respirable dust particles are thereby generated imposing a severe health hazard on coal miners. Wet dusting is an alternative to dry dusting which significantly reduces the exposure to respirable dust particles. However, wet dust is subject to adverse caking issues which lead to a drastic reduction in the dispersibility of the particles. The present work summarizes the studies conducted to date regarding the surface modification of rock dust particles for the purpose of eliminating or alleviating the problems accompanying coal mine dusting applications, meanwhile improving the dispersive properties of dust particles and the ability to suppress the coal dust explosion.     

Comparison of explosion parameters for Methane–Air mixture in different cylindrical flameproof enclosures

Flameproof enclosures having internal electrical components are generally used in classified hazardous areas such as underground coalmines, refineries and places where explosive gas atmosphere may be formed. Flameproof enclosure can withstand the pressure developed during an internal explosion of an explosive mixture due to electrical arc, spark or hot surface of internal electrical components. The internal electrical component of a flameproof enclosure can form ignition source and also work as an obstacle in the explosion wave propagation. The ignition source position and obstacle in a flameproof enclosure have significant effect on explosion pressure development and rate of explosion pressure rise. To study this effect three cylindrical flameproof enclosures with different diameters and heights are chosen to perform the experiment. The explosive mixture used for the experiment is stoichiometric composition of methane in air at normal atmospheric pressure and temperature.It is observed that the development of maximum explosion pressure (P_max) and maximum rate of explosion pressure rise (dp/dt)_ex in a cylindrical flameproof enclosure are influenced by the position of ignition source, presence of internal metal or non-metal obstacles (component). The severity index, K_G is also calculated for the cylindrical enclosures and found that it is influenced by position of ignition source as well as blockage ratios (BR) of the obstacles in the enclosures.     

Assessment of air dispersion characteristic in underground mine ventilation: Field measurement and numerical evaluation

The environmental safety of an underground mine depends strongly on its ventilation system. An efficient ventilation system provides fresh air, removes hazardous gases and dust, and maintains the temperature and humidity at appropriate levels. One of the most important factors in removing hazardous gases and dust is the dispersion behaviour in the mine network. This factor determines the longitudinal spreading and the average air residence time of gases or particulate matter throughout the mine. This paper describes tracer gas measurement in an underground mine and the utilisation and analysis of the dispersion characteristics using numerical simulations. The concentration–time curve obtained from the measurement is simulated to evaluate the effective diffusion coefficient that reflects the general dispersion characteristic of an entire mine. The evaluated values of effective diffusion coefficient are then compared to other data from several studies. The diffusivities obtained in this study were higher than other analytical and empirical results. More research is still required to identify the main factors causing such higher diffusivities. However, the results from the present work can be an important standpoint for future work. Numerical simulation conducted in this research was confirmed to be effective in detecting several leakage paths occurring in the mine ventilation network.     

高压管道天然气泄漏扩散过程的数值模拟

采用CFD模型的方法对高压管道内的天然气泄漏和扩散过程进行了数值模拟。其结果表明,从高压管道泄出的天然气在大气中主要表现为高速射流的泄漏过程和随后的扩散过程。在泄漏过程中,天然气在泄漏口附近为欠膨胀射流,整个泄漏过程具有一定的高度;在扩散过程中,天然气在浮力作用下以向上扩散的形式发展。研究了不同环境风速对扩散过程的影响,较大的风速可以使天然气向下风方向更远的距离扩散,从而增大了天然气爆炸危险浓度的范围。研究结果可     

Acceleration sensitivity of piezoelectric pressure sensors and the influence on the measurement of explosion pressures

To measure the explosion pressure inside an enclosure, it is common to install a piezoelectric pressure sensor in the enclosure wall. The pressure wave of the internal explosion inevitably leads to vibrations of the enclosure walls. This unwanted but naturally occurring motion is also transmitted to the pressure sensor mounted in the enclosure wall and results in inertial forces affecting the piezoelectric element. During the measurement of the explosion pressure, this affects the output signal of the pressure sensor since an undesired signal due to the acceleration of the pressure sensor is superimposed on the desired pressure signal. This behaviour of the sensor is described as acceleration sensitivity. The level of acceleration sensitivity depends on the type and construction design of the pressure sensor. Even though this sensor behaviour is basically not a new phenomenon, the evaluation of an international comparison between Ex testing laboratories in the field of flameproof enclosures has shown that the consideration of this issue is a major challenge in daily practice concerning the measurement of explosion pressures and is even often completely neglected.This work evaluates the behaviour of various piezoelectric pressure sensors with respect to the influence of acceleration and investigates the specific impact on the explosion pressure measurement in the field of flameproof enclosures. For this purpose, explosions from typically used explosive mixtures such as hydrogen, propane and ethyne in air are examined. These investigations involve simple model enclosures with various specifications as well as a commercially available equipment for hazardous areas. By using blind holes and specially designed adapters, a practical method is applied to be able to detect the effect of acceleration on the sensor signal separately from the pressure signal. For this purpose, both the discrete-time pressure curves and the frequency components are analysed using Fast Fourier Transform. The use of signal filters as a practical and fast approach to address these unwanted signal components is discussed and evaluated.This paper provides guidelines for typical end-users in the field of flameproof enclosures how to handle acceleration of piezoelectric pressure sensors and the influence on the measurement of explosion pressures correctly.     

Effects of ignitors and turbulence on dust explosions

The aim of this work is in an attempt to increase the understanding of the acting behaviour of pyrotechnic ignitors and their effects on confined dust explosions. Flame visualization has shown that pyrotechnic ignitors can initiate an explosion by instantaneous jet-like volumetric and/or multipoint ignition. Hence, the rate of pressure rise and also the apparent burning velocity will be increased to some extent, depending on the ignitor energy and the reactivity of the mixtures. The ignitor effect is more important for the early stages of flame propagation and would be more significant in small explosion chambers. Thus, for dust explosion tests with various purposes, use of pyrotechnic ignitors should be made carefully, and the ignitor effect must be accounted for in the data interpretation. Turbulence induced by dust dispersion is a dominant factor in affecting dust explosions. At different ignition delays, however, the turbulence influence will be coupled with that of ignitors. This complicates further the interpretation of explosion data measured under turbulent conditions.     

隔爆型电机在火炸药危险场所应用的安全性分析

针对普通隔爆型电机应用于火炸药粉尘危险场所的安全性问题进行定量分析,设计壳体粉尘侵入量试验,系统研究不同间隙下的粉尘侵入量,根据试验数据,应用曲线外推法及阿贝尔(Abel)余容状态方程计算爆压,结合材料力学及薄壁理论进行隔爆型电气设备外壳强度及刚度的校核。计算表明:若壳体内粉尘较均匀的悬浮在空中,切向应力与许用应力处于同一数量级;如果火炸药粉尘在轴承室、接线盒等局部堆积成火炸药层,切向应力比许用应力大两个数量级。试验结果强调:用于火炸药粉尘危险场所的电气设备必须有特殊的防爆结构设计,普通的隔爆电机用于火炸药粉尘危险环境时存在一定的安全隐患。     

A transportation network assessment tool for hazardous material cargo routing: Weighing exposure health risks,proximity to vulnerable areas,delay costs and trucking expenses

The inherent risks associated with accidental releases of hazardous materials during transport have drawn attention and concerns in the recent decades. The aim of this study is to propose a tool for evaluation and comparison of the transportation networks which can be used to assess the routing options between origins and destinations of the cargos for their suitability for transporting hazardous material cargos by tanker trucks and to identify routes which provide lower accidental release risks, lower public exposure risks, and offer economical benefits. Each route segment of transportation networks were evaluated using specific criteria which included health risk and cost of delay in case of an accidental release of materials, trucking cost and proximity to vulnerable areas. Since, the health impact of hazardous materials differ depending on the characteristics of the material being transported as well as release quantities and atmospheric conditions; this paper aimed in providing a tool that can be used to estimate the impact radius (for health risks) after accidental release of hazardous materials by taking into account different atmospheric conditions based on the meteorological data and solar elevation angle. The Gaussian air dispersion model paired with ArcGIS using Python programming were employed to estimate the health risk impact zones by considering the meteorological data, and accordingly to analyze road segments for cost impacts (delay and trucking costs), and the proximity to vulnerable areas. The route assessment tool was demonstrated with a case study. The results of this study can efficiently aid decision makers for transportation of hazardous materials.     

A new simple methodology for evaluation of explosion risk in underground coal mines

The key objective of this paper is the presentation of a new risk assessment tool for underground coal mines based on a simplified semi-quantitative estimation and assessment method.In order to determine the risk of explosion of any work process or activity in underground coal mines it is necessary to assess the risk. The proposed method is based on a Risk Index obtained as a product of three factors: frequency of each individual scenario P_ucm, associated severity consequences C_ucm and exposure time to explosive atmospheres E_ucm. The influence of exposure time is usually not taken into account up to now. Moreover, the exposure to explosive atmospheres may affect factors of hazardous event probability as much as its consequences. There are many definitions of exposure to explosive atmospheres but in the case of underground coal mines the exposure is defined as frequency risk of firedamp and coal dust. The risk estimation and risk assessment are based on the developed of a risk matrix.The proposed methodology allows not only the estimation of the explosion risk but also gives an approach to decide if the proposal investment is well-justified or not in order to improve safety.     

Risk analysis of a cross-regional toxic chemical disaster by using the integrated mesoscale and microscale consequence analysis model

The rapidly growing capacity and scale of the world's petrochemical industries have forced many plants to have an even larger amount of hazardous substances. Once a serious leak occurs, the outcome of the effect zone could be very large or even uncontrollable just like the Bhopal disaster. In order to assess the risk of a cross-regional damage, this study aims to develop a model that can combine the benefits of both CFD model of the microscale simulation and the Gaussian dispersion model of the mesoscale simulation.The developed integrated model is employed on a toxic chemical tank leak accident of a process plant within an industrial park in order to explore the consequences and the risk of the toxic gas dispersion on three different scopes; one is the accident site, the second is the long-distance transmission route of the mesoscale area and the third is a target city. According to the simulation's results, it is obvious that the complexity of the structure surrounding the leaking tank will eventually affect the maximum ground concentration, the cloud shapes and cloud dilution rate, while the released gas is under dispersion. On the other hand, since the simple Gaussian dispersion model doesn't consider the above impacts, its calculation results will have many differences as compared to the realistic situation. This integrated model can be used as a tool for estimating the risk on a microscale or mesoscale areas and it can produce better results when an environmental impact analysis is required for a larger hazardous chemical process.     

Advanced multi-perspective computer simulation as a tool for reliable consequence analysis

Major accidents involving hazardous materials are a crucial issue for the chemical and process industries. Many accidental events taken place in the past showed that dangerous substances may pose a severe threat for people and property. Aiming at loss prevention, a series of actions have been instituted through international regulations concerning hazardous installations safety preparedness. These actions involve efficient land-use planning, safety studies execution, as well as emergency response planning drawing up. A key factor for the substantial consideration of the above is the effective prediction of possible accident forms and their consequences, for the estimation of which, a number of empirical models have been developed so far. However, (semi-)empirical models present certain deficiencies and obey to certain assumptions, thus leading to results of reduced accuracy. Another approach that could be used for this purpose and it is discussed in this work, is the utilization of advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques in certain accident forms modeling. In particular, composite CFD-based models were developed for the simulation of several characteristic accident forms involving isothermal and non-isothermal heavy gas dispersion, confined and unconfined explosion in environment of complex geometry, as well as flammable cloud fire. The simulation cases were referred to real-scale trials allowing us to conclude about the validity of the quantitative results. Comparisons of the computational predictions with the experimental observations showed that obtained results were in good agreement with the experimental ones, whereas the evaluation of statistical performance measures proved the simulations to be statistically valid.