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Highlights • A new atmospheric dispersion model is developed based on combination of Cellular Automata and Artificial Neural Networks (CA-ANN). • Comparisons are made with CFD RANS standard k-ε model on 2D free field dispersion of methane.

This work is part of a project for evaluating catastrophic tank failures caused by impacts with a high-speed solid body. Previous studies on shock overpressure and drag events have provided analytical predictions, but they are not sufficient to explain ejection of liquid from the tank. This study focuses on the hydrodynamic behavior of the liquid after collision to explain subsequent ejection of liquid. The study is characterized by use of high-velocity projectiles and analysis of projectile dynamics in terms of energy loss to tank contents. New tests were performed at two projectile velocities (963 and 1255 m s(-1)) and over a range of viscosities (from 1 to 23.66 mPa s) of the target liquid. Based on data obtained from a high-speed video recorder, a phenomenological description is proposed for the evolution of intense pressure waves and cavitation in the target liquids.

Several methodologies, based on different thermodynamic assumptions and requiring substance properties and thermodynamic data, have been proposed in the literature for the prediction of the mechanical energy released by a Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapour Explosion (BLEVE) and the associated overpressure. A new method, simple and easy to use, is presented which only requires the vessel filling degree and the temperature at failure as input variables to estimate this energy. The polynomial approach has been used to obtain the equation corresponding to the diverse substances most commonly involved in these explosions. The comparison of the predicted values with experimental data shows a good agreement.

The present paper is part of a research program on two-phase flows and heat transfer studies in tube bundles. An experimental study was carried out to analyse the void fraction for vertical two-phase flows. Boiling across a horizontal tube bundle for three hydrocarbons (n-pentane, propane and iso-butane) under saturated conditions is investigated. The experiments were performed on a tube bundle with 45 plain copper tubes of 19.05 mm outside diameter in a staggered configuration with a pitch to diameter ratio of 1.33. An optical probe has been developed to determine the local void fraction at the minimum cross section between the tubes. The void fraction for the three hydrocarbons was found to be significantly less than the homogeneous prediction, and correlated well with the Zuber and Findlay (1965) model. A statistical analysis using Probability Density Functions (PDF) was performed to characterise the flow regimes. Two different flow regimes have been identified in the bundle, namely a "bubbly" and an "annular-dispersed" flow. A transition zone was evidenced by analysing the bubble size distribution. A comparison with the only preexisting map, established for adiabatic air-water flow, shows that the transitions between the flow regimes do not correspond to our results in boiling case.