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Accidental release of Liquefied Natural Gas in a processing facility: effect of equipment congestion level on dispersion behaviour of the flammable vapour
Citation
Baalisampang, T and Abbassi, R and Garaniya, V and Khan, F and Dadashzadeh, M, Accidental release of Liquefied Natural Gas in a processing facility: effect of equipment congestion level on dispersion behaviour of the flammable vapour, Journal of Loss Prevention in The Process Industries, 61 pp. 237-248. ISSN 0950-4230 (2019) [Refereed Article]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2019 Elsevier Ltd.
DOI: doi:10.1016/j.jlp.2019.07.001
Abstract
An accidental leakage of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) can occur during processes of production, storage and
transportation. LNG has a complex dispersion characteristic after release into the atmosphere. This complex
behaviour demands a detailed description of the scientific phenomena involved in the dispersion of the released
LNG. Moreover, a fugitive LNG leakage may remain undetected in complex geometry usually in semi-confined or
confined areas and is prone to fire and explosion events. To identify location of potential fire and/or explosion
events, resulting from accidental leakage and dispersion of LNG, a dispersion modelling of leakage is essential.
This study proposes a methodology comprising of release scenarios, credible leak size, simulation, comparison of
congestion level and mass of flammable vapour for modelling the dispersion of a small leakage of LNG and its
vapour in a typical layout using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach. The methodology is applied to a
case study considering a small leakage of LNG in three levels of equipment congestion. The potential fire and/or
explosion hazard of small leaks is assessed considering both time dependent concentration analysis and areabased model. Mass of flammable vapour is estimated in each case and effect of equipment congestion on source
terms and dispersion characteristics are analysed. The result demonstrates that the small leak of LNG can create
hazardous scenarios for a fire and/or explosion event. It is also revealed that higher degree of equipment
congestion increases the retention time of vapour and intensifies the formation of pockets of isolated vapour
cloud. This study would help in designing appropriate leak and dispersion detection systems, effective monitoring procedures and risk assessment
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | complex layout, LNG, fugitive leakage, dispersion modelling, CFD, FLACS |
Research Division: | Engineering |
Research Group: | Maritime engineering |
Research Field: | Ocean engineering |
Objective Division: | Energy |
Objective Group: | Energy exploration |
Objective Field: | Oil and gas exploration |
UTAS Author: | Baalisampang, T (Dr Til Baalisampang) |
UTAS Author: | Garaniya, V (Associate Professor Vikram Garaniya) |
UTAS Author: | Khan, F (Professor Faisal Khan) |
ID Code: | 134923 |
Year Published: | 2019 |
Web of Science® Times Cited: | 13 |
Deposited By: | NC Maritime Engineering and Hydrodynamics |
Deposited On: | 2019-09-13 |
Last Modified: | 2020-03-11 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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