Numerical modelling for effect of water curtain in mitigating toxic gas release

Abstract

As the chemical industry has developed, the use of toxic substances has increased, and leakage accidents have increased. Among various substances, hydrogen fluoride (HF) and ammonia (NH3) are representative materials for the study since both are hazardous and important in the chemical industry. HF is a strong, pervious substance that is a stimulates on the body, respiratory system, and skin. HF is widely used in electronics manufacturing as a polisher and disinfectant. Since an HF release accident occurred in Gumi, S. Korea (2012) the Korea Occupational Safety and Health Agency (KOSHA) has emphasized that special attention and management is needed with respect to this toxic substance. NH3 is widely used in the semiconductor industry and chemical processes. There have been about 20 large accidents regarding NH3 around the world in last 10 years.In this study, ANSYS Fluent, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) program, was used to identify the effect of a water curtain as a mitigation system for toxic substances that are leaked from industrial facilities. Simulations were conducted to analyze how effectively a water curtain mitigated the dispersion of toxic substances. To verify the accuracy of the simulation, Goldfish experiment and INERIS Ammonia dispersion experiment were simulated and compared. Various water curtains were applied to the simulated field experiment to confirm the mitigation factors of toxic substances. The results show that the simulations and experiments are consistent and that the dispersion of toxic substances can be mitigated by water curtains.

Simulation Analysis of Ammonia Leakage and Dispersion in a Large-Scale Refrigeration System

“…In this study, we aim to analyze the influence factor of the diffusion of ammonia gas after it leaks from the liquid storage tank. The following conditions are set as the basic assumptions [16][17][18], which are convenient for analyzing the influence of wind speed and leak position on the diffusion:…”

Theoretical and Numerical Study on The Effect of Ambient Temperature Towards Gas Dispersion in Indoor Environment using CFD approach

“…Yang et al, [12] used CFD simulations to analyze the impact of both flammability and toxicity in an offshore platform. The effectiveness of physical barriers [13], water curtains [14], and gas detector placement [15] can also be evaluated through three-dimensional CFD modeling of flammable and toxic gas dispersion. The results from CFD simulations can also be combined with dose-response models to determine the absorbed dose to the human body and to evaluate human fatality through methods such as Probit Analysis for the hydrogen fluoride gas leak in South Korea performed by Yang et al, [16].…”