Modelling an integrated impact of fire, explosion and combustion products during transitional events caused by an accidental release of LNG

In a complex processing facility, there is likelihood of occurrence of cascading scenarios, i.e. hydrocarbon release, fire, explosion and dispersion of combustion products. The consequence of such scenarios, when combined, can be more severe than their individual impact. Hence, actual impact can be only represented by integration of above mentioned events. A novel methodology is proposed to model an evolving accident scenario during an incidental release of LNG in a complex processing facility. The methodology is applied to a case study considering transitional scenarios namely spill, pool formation and evaporation of LNG, dispersion of natural gas, and the consequent fire, explosion and dispersion of combustion products using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Probit functions are employed to analyze individual impacts and a ranking method is used to combine various impacts to identify risk during the transitional events. The results confirmed that in a large and complex facility, an LNG fire can transit to a vapor cloud explosion if the necessary conditions are met, i.e. the flammable range, ignition source with enough energy and congestion/confinement level. Therefore, the integrated consequences are more severe than those associated with the individual ones, and need to be properly assessed. This study would provide an insight for an effective analysis of potential consequences of an LNG spill in any LNG processing facility and it can be useful for the safety measured design of process facilities. (C) 2019 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.