STUDY OF LEAKAGE AND EXPLOSION HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS OF A COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS AT A GAS STATION

This paper presents the results for a model of a typical urban compressed natural gas (CNG) station obtained with the help of numerical methods on the assumption that the leakage explosion scenarios run under three orifi ce sizes. The simulation demonstrates that the CNG leak rate is quite high and the leaking gas cloud spreads quickly along the ground, increasing the vertical diff usion speed. As a result, longitudinal space becomes the main area of hazard. The hazard explosion overpressure is concentrated mainly in the narrow area between the tank and surrounding buildings, and the maximum explosion overpressure exceeds 0.4 bar. The range of the overpressure hazard will cover the entire gas station where a shock wave, high temperature, and fl ame damage may occur, but projectile strikes may exceed this range, and the risk of explosion becomes higher. In addition, the attenuation of the overpressure by the wall is signifi cant, and the maximum attenuation rate can reach 65%.
This paper presents the results for a model of a typical urban compressed natural gas (CNG) station obtained with the help of numerical methods on the assumption that the leakage explosion scenarios run under three orifi ce sizes. The simulation demonstrates that the CNG leak rate is quite high and the leaking gas cloud spreads quickly along the ground, increasing the vertical diff usion speed. As a result, longitudinal space becomes the main area of hazard. The hazard explosion overpressure is concentrated mainly in the narrow area between the tank and surrounding buildings, and the maximum explosion overpressure exceeds 0.4 bar. The range of the overpressure hazard will cover the entire gas station where a shock wave, high temperature, and fl ame damage may occur, but projectile strikes may exceed this range, and the risk of explosion becomes higher. In addition, the attenuation of the overpressure by the wall is signifi cant, and the maximum attenuation rate can reach 65%.
Author:  W. Li, X. Shen, Z. Huang, T. Mao, Q. Hu, and C. Ma
Keywords:  compressed natural gas, fi lling station, leakage, vapor cloud explosion, hazard
Page:  387