Mitigation of Ammonia Dispersion with Mesh Barrier under Various Atmospheric Stability Conditions

In this study, the effects of the mesh barrier on the free dispersion of ammonia were numerically investigated under different atmospheric conditions. This study presents the detail and flow feature of the dispersion of ammonia through the mesh barrier on various free stream conditions to decline and limit the toxic danger of the ammonia. It is assumed that the dispersion of the ammonia occurred through the leakage in the pipeline. Parametric studies were conducted on the performance of the mesh barrier by using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with realizable k-epsilon turbulence model. Numerical simulations of ammonia dispersion in the presence of mesh barrier revealed significant results in a fully turbulent free stream condition. The results clearly show that the flow behavior was found to be a direct result of mesh size and ammonia dispersion is highly influenced by these changes in flow patterns in downstream. In fact, the flow regime becomes laminar as flow passes through mesh barrier. According to the results, the mesh barrier decreased the maximum concentration of the ammonia gas and limited the risk zone (more than 500 ppm) lower than 2 m height. Furthermore, a significant reduction occurs in the slope of the upper boundary of NH3 risk zone distribution at downstream when a mesh barrier is presented. Thus, this device highly restricts the leak distribution of ammonia in the industrial plan.