Estimation of safety distances against vapor cloud explosión (VCE) after LPG leaks

Abstract

The dispersion of heavy gases present significant environmental and human exposure risks. Modeling this phenomenon makes it possible to estimate the concentration in the points surrounding the leak point and define the explosive zones. In this work, the consequences caused by leaks of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) followed by a vapor cloud explosion are analyzed considering different scenarios with the aim of obtaining simple correlations for the estimation of safety distances. After a sensitivity analysis, functions of the safety distance with the leaked flow and the wind speed are proposed for different atmospheric stabilities. The model parameters are determined by an optimization model implemented in GAMS. A simple and precise model for the estimation of the safety distance given an LPG leak was obtained.