Computational fluid dynamics simulation of gas dispersion in complex facilities using Kit Fox field experiments:Validation and statistical evaluation

Gas release and its dispersion is a major concern in chemical industries.In order to manage and mitigate the risk of gas dispersion and its consequences,it is necessary to predict gas dispersion behavior and its concentration at various locations upon emission.Therefore,models and commercial packages such as Phast and ALOHA have been developed.Computational fluid dynamics(CFD)can be a useful tool to simulate gas dispersion in complex areas and conditions.The validation of the models requires the employment of the experimental data from filed and wind tunnel experiments.It appears that the use of the experimental data to validate the CFD method that only includes certain monitor points and not the entire domain can lead to unreliable results for the intended areas of concern.In this work,some of the trials of the Kit Fox field experiment,which provided a wide-range database for gas dispersion,were simulated by CFD.Various scenarios were considered with different mesh sizes,physical conditions,and types of release.The results of the simulations were surveyed in the whole domain.The data matching each scenario was varied by the influence of the dominant displacement force(wind or diffusivity).Furthermore,the statistical parameters suggested for the heavy gas dispersion showed a dependency on the lower band of gas concentration.Therefore,they should be used with precaution.Finally,the results and computation cost of the simulation could be affected by the chosen scenario,the location of the intended points,and the release type.

A Review of Leakage and Dispersion of LNG on the Ground

Based on the analysis of the whole process of LNG spill on land,the research methods of LNG pool expansion and heavy gas diffusion are summarized and analyzed.This paper reviews the experimental and analytical work performed to data on spill of LNG.Specifically,experiments on the spill of LNG onshore,as well as experiments and numerical study on heavy gas dispersion.Pool boiling and turbulence model are described and discussed,as well as models used to predict dispersion.Although there have been significant progress in understanding the behavior of LNG spills,technical knowledge gaps to improve hazard prediction are still identified.Some of the gaps can be addressed with current modeling and testing capabilities.Finally,a discussion of the state of knowledge,and recommendations to further improvement the understanding of the behavior of LNG spills onshore.

Genetic Relationship between Natural Gas Dispersal Zone and Uranium Accumulation in the Northern Ordos Basin, China

The Ordos Basin is well-known for the coexistence of oil, natural gas, coal and uranium. However, there has been little research to discuss the genetic relationship between them. In this paper, a case study of the Zaohuohao area in Dongsheng, Inner Mongolia, China, is conducted to investigate the genetic relationship between the natural gas and the uranium accumulation. Fluid inclusion data from the uranium-bearing sandstone samples indicate that the fluid inclusions formed in a gas-water transition zone. Using the homogeneous temperatures of aqueous inclusions coeval with hydrocarbon-bearing inclusions, combined with the buried history and paleo-temperature data, the gas-water transition zone reached the area at about 110 Ma. On the basis of this, the contents of Uranium （U） and Total Organic Carbon （TOC） of the samples were analyzed, and there was no obvious relation between them. With regard to the available data from both publications and this study, it is found that the U mineralization has a spatiotemporal accordance with the gas-water dispersal zone. Thus, it is believed that the natural gas in the gas-water zone is an effective reducer to the U-bearing ground water abundant in oxygen, which is the main factor to U accumulation. This result can be used as the reference to the U mines predicting and prospecting.

Exhaust process of cryogenic nitrogen gas from a cryogenic wind tunnel with an inclined exit

A new structural design for the vent stack with an inclined exit was proposed to reduce the settlement hazard of the cryogenic plume from a cryogenic wind tunnel;it extends the plume trajectory to increase the effective contact space and time for mixing between the plume gas and atmospheric air before the plume settles to the ground,contributing to more efficient energy consumption for heating.Reduced-scale experiments and numerical simulations of plume dispersion based on vertical and 30°-and 45°-inclined exits were conducted to study harm reduction and energy-saving potential.Analyses of the minimum temperature and minimum oxygen concentration of the plume near the ground indicate that the new exhaust design with an inclined exit clearly reduces the settlement hazard.Under windless conditions and without using a fan-ejector system,up to 15.9%of the heating energy used by the burner can be saved by adopting the new design.

Axial gas mixing in conical spouted beds with high density particles

Conical spouted beds operating with high-density particles(ρp>2500 kg/m^(3))have recently gained attention because of their potential use as nuclear fuel coaters for next-generation nuclear reactors.In the literature,the number of axial gas mixing studies in conical and conical-cylindrical spouted beds is very limited and all axial mixing studies were carried out with relatively light particles(ρp≤2500 kg/m^(3)).Therefore,the objective of this study was to generate experimental data that can be used to explain the gas axial mixing behavior in conical spouted beds operating with both low-and high-density particles.Experiments were conducted in two(γ=30°,60°)conical spouted beds with three different types of particles:zirconia(ρp=6050 kg/m^(3)),zirconia toughened alumina(ρp=3700 kg/m^(3))and glass beads(ρp=2460 kg/m^(3)).In order to be able to compare experimental data obtained at different conditions,a 1-D convection-diffusion gas mixing model originally developed by San Joséet al.(1995)was implemented to determine the axial dispersion coefficients.The results show that the axial dispersion coefficients range between m^(2)/s and m^(2)/s,increase with superficial gas velocity and are higher than the corresponding dispersion coefficients of fixed beds,lower than the dispersion coefficients of fluidized beds and in the same range with the cylindrical spouted beds reported in the literature.The corresponding Peclet numbers were in the range of 0.6–7.8 for all operating conditions and slightly higher Peclet numbers were obtained with glass beads indicating the relative importance of gas convective transport over gas dispersion for light particles compared to heavy particles.

Experimental and numerical investigation of gas diffusion under an urban underground construction

Rapid increase of urban underground constructions has a great consideration of underground environment safety and how to expel toxic gasses out of tunnels effectively.The utility tunnel is a typical urban tunnel construction with multiple underground pipelines including gas pipelines,and it is necessary to investigate characteristic of gas diffusion and monitor gas leakage to ensure tunnel safety.In this study,the experimental measurements of airflow and gas distributions were conducted in a 10 m full-scaled utility tunnel mockup,and gas diffusion characteristic was also investigated.Numerical simulation of utility tunnel leakage was also conducted by computational fluid dynamics(CFD).Different turbulence models and different air supply diffuser models were compared via the experimental results based on visualization and the relative root-mean-square error(RRMSE)index,which quan-titated the difference between the numerical and experimental results.The results showed that the standard k−εturbulence model and random air opening model could provide better results than other models.According to the experimental data analysis,it was necessary to consider the optimization of monitoring detector arrangements in actual utility tunnels.This study provided basic experimental data and the validated numerical model for the leakage source identification and underground tunnels simulation research.