A preliminary explore to the forced ventilation on the toxic gas release/dispersion and the hazard mitigation within a petrochemical plant |
| |
Institution: | 1. Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Paraiba, Avenida Tranquilino Coelho Lemos, 671, CEP: 58.432-300 Campina Grande, PB, Brazil;2. Petrobras - Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., Av. Henrique Valadares, 28, Centro, CEP: 20231-030 Rio De Janeiro, RJ, Brazil;3. Federal University of Campina Grande, Av. Aprigio Veloso, 882, CEP 58429-972, Campina Grande, PB, Brazil |
| |
Abstract: | More than thirty-five years ago, the Bhopal disaster shook the whole world and investigators found out that many people survived just because they turned on the fans in their bedrooms. It was postulated that the forced ventilation played an important role in diluting the toxic gas and saved these people. In order to provide evidence to solve this old mystery, this research employed FLACS software to assess the hazardous degree of a toxic gas (hydrogen sulfide) leakage within a petrochemical process. Series of gas dispersion simulations were performed to actualize the hazardous characteristics and the corresponding risks of the release accident. The study shows that the hazardous level and the hazard range can be greatly influenced when parameters, such as the gas leakage circumstances (atmospheric conditions and wind speed) and the mitigation measures (direction of fans and their speed) are altered.By using explosion-proof fans in different positions and ventilation directions, combined with the natural wind in a certain direction, this research attempts to detect the best combination from various mitigation designs and to compare the influence of fan directions on hazard mitigation. It is also the first time of its kind to simulate the effect of forced ventilation on hazard mitigation within a process plant. The results show that the hazardous level of a toxic release can be effectively alleviated, when the direction of the mechanical ventilation is against the natural wind direction. With the help of the CFD simulation and the quantitative risk analysis technique, different loss prevention strategies can be tested via this method in order to establish a safer working environment. |
| |
Keywords: | Flame accelerating simulator (FLACS) Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) Forced ventilation Gas dispersion Bhopal gas tragedy |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|