Safety distances estimation of BLEVE explosion from convex functions

Abstract

In the chemical industry, the handling of hazardous substances has caused a great number of catastrophic accidents. Therefore, obtaining a methodology whose application contributes to the mitigation of its effects has become important in the last years. In this work, the BLEVE (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion) has been studied with the objective to propose an effective correlation that estimates safety distances based on the total internal energy of the system under study and specific vulnerability levels. A linear combination of convex functions, with unknown coefficients, is formulated and implemented in GAMS. Safety distances estimated by this expression have been compared with those obtained by a mathematical model based on the fundamental principles. In future works, this correlation could be applied in the inherently safe processes design.