Recent application of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in process safety and loss prevention: A review

In recent years, significant progress has been made to ensure that process industries are among the safest workplaces in the world. However, with the increasing complexity of existing technologies and new problems brought about by emerging technologies, a strong need still exists to study the fundamentals of process safety and predict possible scenarios. This is attained by conducting the corresponding consequence modeling and risk assessments. As a result of the continuous advancement of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools and exponentially increased computation capabilities along with better understandings of the underlying physics, CFD simulations have been applied widely in the areas of process safety and loss prevention to gain new insights, improve existing models, and assess new hazardous scenarios. In this review, 126 papers from 2010 to 2020 have been included in order to systematically categorize and summarize recent applications of CFD for fires, explosions, dispersions of flammable and toxic materials from accidental releases, incident investigations and reconstructions, and other areas of process safety. The advantages of CFD modeling are discussed and the future of CFD applications in this research area is outlined.     

铝粉爆炸无火焰泄压技术及装备研究

为有效防止粉尘爆炸泄爆引起的二次爆炸及火灾问题,基于泄压理论、消火机理,设计开发无火焰泄压装置,装置主要由消火结构、底座、爆破片及夹持机构组成,消火结构由不锈钢金属丝网组成。选择铝粉尘为测试粉尘,通过自建除尘系统试验平台进行试验研究。结果表明:无火焰泄压装置可成功阻止火焰传播,装置释放的冲击波在5 m外均小于5 kPa,除尘系统内部最大泄爆压力为0.1 MPa,装置前端火焰传播速度均大于100 m/s。     

缝洞型管道瓦斯爆炸特性数值模拟研究

为探究采空区遗煤、松散破碎岩块对瓦斯爆炸的影响,建立缝洞型管道模型,采用数值模拟与理论分析结合方法研究采空区内缝洞型管道内瓦斯爆炸的传播规律及管道长径比对瓦斯爆炸过程中速度与冲击波的影响。研究结果表明:在缝洞型结构内,随着火焰沿管道向前传播,各监测点速度逐渐变大、压力先增加后降低,而压力上升速率则表现出不规则的变化;缝洞结构加剧了火焰燃烧的剧烈程度,提高了管道内各监测点的温度峰值;在缝洞型管道内随长径比r增加,各监测点最大压力峰值以及速度大小依次降低。     

基于变权灰色云模型的江苏省水环境系统脆弱性评价

水环境系统脆弱性是水资源利用与生态环境研究的热点问题,通过研究水环境系统的内在机理,综合考虑影响水环境系统脆弱性的资源、环境、经济、社会等因素,借助驱动力-压力-状态-影响-响应-管理（DPSIRM）框架构建水环境系统脆弱性评价指标体系。在此基础上,构建基于变权灰色云模型的评价方法,对2004~2014年江苏省水环境系统脆弱性进行评价。结果表明：2004~2014年水环境系统脆弱性指数由47.056提高到63.210,脆弱性等级由“重度脆弱”演化为“中度脆弱”,并长期维持在“中度脆弱的”等级,2014年出现了向“轻度脆弱”状态转变的趋势。分析各个子系统对水环境系统脆弱性影响程度可知,影响子系统和响应子系统对江苏省水环境脆弱性系统的影响程度逐年增加;而压力子系统和管理子系统对水环境系统脆弱性的影响程度逐年下降;其它子系统对水环境系统脆弱性的影响维持在一定水平小幅度波动。     

Implications of high altitude desert dust transport from Western Sahara to Nile Delta during biomass burning season

The air over major cities and rural regions of the Nile Delta is highly polluted during autumn which is the biomass burning season, locally known as black cloud. Previous studies have attributed the increased pollution levels during the black cloud season to the biomass or open burning of agricultural waste, vehicular, industrial emissions, and secondary aerosols. However, new multi-sensor observations (column and vertical profiles) from satellites, dust transport models and associated meteorology present a different picture of the autumn pollution. Here we show, for the first time, the evidence of long range transport of dust at high altitude (2.5-6 km) from Western Sahara and its deposition over the Nile Delta region unlike current Models. The desert dust is found to be a major contributor to the local air quality which was previously considered to be due to pollution from biomass burning enhanced by the dominant northerly winds coming from Europe.     

A Comprehensive Python Toolkit for Accessing High‐Throughput Computing to Support Large Hydrologic Modeling Tasks

The National Flood Interoperability Experiment (NFIE) was an undertaking that initiated a transformation in national hydrologic forecasting by providing streamflow forecasts at high spatial resolution over the whole country. This type of large‐scale, high‐resolution hydrologic modeling requires flexible and scalable tools to handle the resulting computational loads. While high‐throughput computing (HTC) and cloud computing provide an ideal resource for large‐scale modeling because they are cost‐effective and highly scalable, nevertheless, using these tools requires specialized training that is not always common for hydrologists and engineers. In an effort to facilitate the use of HTC resources the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project, CI‐WATER, has developed a set of Python tools that can automate the tasks of provisioning and configuring an HTC environment in the cloud, and creating and submitting jobs to that environment. These tools are packaged into two Python libraries: CondorPy and TethysCluster. Together these libraries provide a comprehensive toolkit for accessing HTC to support hydrologic modeling. Two use cases are described to demonstrate the use of the toolkit, including a web app that was used to support the NFIE national‐scale modeling.     

Mapping of tritium emissions using absorption vapour samplers

Püspökszilágy Radioactive Waste Treatment and Disposal Facility (RWTDF) is a typical near-surface engineered repository designated to store low- and intermediate-level wastes from various institutes, research facilities and hospitals in Hungary. Two automatic combined ¹⁴C–tritium sampling units installed at the facility sample the air 2 m above surface. The one installed near the vaults detects tritium (T) activities two orders of magnitude higher than the far reference sampling unit. To localize the T emissions, 19 small absorption vapour samplers filled with silica gel were settled onto the ground surface. After the saturation of the silica gel, the water was recovered and its T concentration was measured with a low-background liquid scintillation counter. The absorption vapour samplers are cheap, simple and easy-to-use. We present the samplers and the T distribution map constructed from the data, which helps to localize the T emission.     

Liquefaction process for a hydrothermally treated waste mixture containing plastics

Most landfilled plastic waste is a mixture or is in the form of composites with incombustible wastes such as glass, metals, and ceramics. After hydrothermal treatment, including a steam-explosion process, the separation of mixed waste (MW) into organic and inorganic substances becomes easy. However, the effect of hydrothermal pretreatment on the subsequent liquefaction of organic substances from MW is not obvious. In this study, the effects on the liquefaction of polystyrene and high-density polyethylene are discussed. Moreover, optimum conditions for the liquefaction of organic substances from hydrothermally treated MW are identified. By means of this hydrothermal pretreatment, including the steam-explosion process, polystyrene and high-density polyethylene can be significantly converted to oil by liquefaction at 300°–400°C. In comparison with liquefaction of hydrothermally pretreated mixed waste (HMW) at 300°–400°C with a batch type reactor, the yield of oil increases significantly on liquefaction using a semi-batch type reactor. It is considered that the radical chain and termination reactions among the radicals from HMW were inhibited in the semi-batch type reactor. On liquefaction of HMW in a semi-batch reactor, the conversion of HMW to oil was enhanced on increasing the liquefaction temperature to 350°C and the holding time to 60 min. Chemical Feedstock Recycling & Other Innovative Recycling Techniques 6     

基于道化法(DOW)的计算机辅助软件开发

传统的评价方法费时费力,效率低下.将计算机技术与评价方法相结合是评价工作发展的趋势.介绍了为世界各国石油化工企业所广为接受的美国道化学公司(DOW)火灾、爆炸危险性指数评价法,以及根据该法的评价思路所开发的辅助软件的设计思路和功能.