A numerical method of calculating the consequence of heterogeneous mixed vapor cloud explosion

Abstract

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models are increasingly being used to assess the consequences of vapor cloud explosion (VCE). However, the simulated results are greater than the actual measured and field observation values because AutoReaGas conservatively assumed that the concentration field is uniform and stoichiometric. Therefore, AutoReaGas was revised through embedding an interface code which could replace with the actual heterogeneous concentration field calculated by Fluent. The proposed interface code was validated against experimental measurements of VCE caused by natural diffusion. Thus, the variables such as temperature, pressure, etc. were obtained when gas explosion occurred. Comparing between the simulation results and previous experimental results, we concluded that the revised AutoReaGas can improve the calculation accuracy and its feasibility is also validated. A successful case study of a certain salt cavern type of underground gas storage (UGS) not only proves this revised numerical method is practical but further expands the application range of the AutoReaGas.