2/16/2011

BLEVE & fireballs

A boiling liquid expanding vapor cloud

BLEVE & Fireballs

Roger Deo

explosion (BLEVE) occurs when there is a sudden release of confinement of a pressure vessel containing a superheated vessel or liquefied gas. A BLEVE can occur due to any mechanism that results in the sudden failure of containment.
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BLEVE (Video)

BLEVE

Path Length g Height

receptor

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Empirical equations
The determination of the fireballs height, diameter and duration are given by the following empirical equations. Maximum fireball diameter
D max = 5.8M
1 3

Radiation
The emissive radiation flux is represented by the Stefan-Boltzmann law Stefan-

Emax = T 4
Where is the Stefan Boltzmann constant Tf is the absolute temperature Emax is the maximum radiative flux
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Fireball combustion duration

t BLEVE = 0.45M
1 3

For M<30000 For M>30000

t BLEVE = 2.6M

1 6

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Empirical equations
Center height of fireball

For real sources the maximum emissive radiation is given by the following E = Emax Where is the emissivity of a black body

HBLEVE = 0.75DMAX
Initial ground level hemisphere diameter

D INITIAL = 1 . 3D MAX
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For fireballs Beers law can be used to determine the emissivity

Where
E is the radiative emissive flux R is the radiation fraction of the heat of combustion M is the initial mass of fuel Hc is the heat of combustion per unit mass Dmax is the maximum diameter of the fireball

= 1 e
Where

kD

K is the extinction coefficient

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Emittance
Thermal radiation is usually calculated using surface emitted flux. Typical energy fluxes are much higher than that of pool fires The surface heat flux based on the radiative fraction on the total heat of combustion is given by:

Radiative flux
The radiative flux received by a receptor at a distance L can be determined from this empirical equation.

RMH c E= D 2 max rBLEVE

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2.2 aRH c M E= 2 4X c
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Radiative flux
Where
Er is the radiative flux received by the receptor a i th atmospheric t is the t h i transmissivity i i it R is the radiative fraction M is the initial mass of fuel in the fireball Xc is the distance fireball center to the receptor.
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A recommended correlation formula that accounts for humidity is given by

a = 2.02(Px X c )
0.09

5328 Pw = 101325(RH) exp(14.4114 Ta Where

Pw is the vapor pressure of water (Pa) RH is the relative humidity (%) Ta is the ambient temperature Xc si the distance from the center of the
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Atmospheric transmissivity
The atmospheric transmissivity is an important factor radiation is absorbed and scattered by the atmosphere. This causes a reduction in radiation received by target locations If the atmospheric transmissivity is ignored a = 1. This can result in substantial error since at distances greater than 20m this would account for 20% to 40% of the radiation absorbed.
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Radiative flux
A more empirical equation for the radiative flux was proposed by Robert

8.28 10 3 M0.771 E= 2 Xc
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Radiative flux
The radiation received for the duration of the BLEVE incident is given by

Pool fires
A pool fire can result from a number of scenarios. If the material is a flammable liquid stored below its boiling point the subsequent release and ignition would result in a pool fire
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E r = aEF21
Where
Er is the emissive radiative flux received by a black body receptor a si the atmospheric transmissivity F is the geometric view factor
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Geometric view factor

For a horizontal surface the geometric view factor is given by:
Fire

Pool fire

+ H2 2 For a vertical surface the geometric view factor is given by: 2 L(D 2) F21 = (L2 + H2 )3 2
2
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F21 =

(L

H(D 2)

2 3

Receptor

Pool
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Burning rate
For burning liquids the radiative heat transfer and subsequent boiling rate would increase with the pool diameter. For pool diameters greater than 1m the radiative heat transfer dominates and the flames geometric view factor is constant. Thus a constant burning rate can be expected
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Tbp

H* = H V +
Where

Ta

C dT
p

Hv is the enthalpy of vaporization Cp is the heat capacity of the liquid integrated between ambient temperature and that of the boiling point
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For pool diameters greater than 1m Burghs showed that the rate of decrease of the height of the liquid is given by:

If the density is not available the mass burning rate is then given by

y max = 1.27 10 6
Where

Hc H *

mB = 1 10 3
Where

Hc H *

Hc is the net heat of combustion H* is the modified enthalpy of vaporization of hy liquid at its boiling point (equation on the next slide
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Mb is the mass burning rate in (kg/sec)

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Pool size
Pool sizes are fixed are fixed by the size of the release and that of physical barriers. For a continuous release on an infinite flat plate the maximum diameter is reached when the product of the burning rate and surface area is equal to the leakage area.
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Flame height
For a circular pool the flame height is given by:

Mb H = 42 gD D a

0.61

Where
z is the air density g is the gravitational constant

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D max = 2
Where

Vl y

Geometric view factor

This geometric view facto is for the point source. If the solid plume is to be used a different more complex geometric view factor is required required.

Vl is the volumetric liquid spill rate (volume/time) y is the liquid burning rate (length/time)

FP =

Where

1 4 x 2

X is the distance from the center to the target

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Received thermal flux

If the point source model is selected then the received thermal flux is determined from the total energy of combustion

Flame height
Flame height for turbulent gas jets in still air is given by:

E r = a Q r Fp = a Mb Hc AFp
If the solid plume radiation model is selected the selected the received flux is based on surface

L 5.3 T f T j = d j CT aT

Ma CT + (1 CT ) Mf

E r = aHc F21
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Jet fires
Jet fires typically result from the combustion of material as it is being released from the pressurized process unit. The main concern is localized effects. The model is used mostly to specify am exclusion zone for flares.
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Where
L is the length of the visible turbulent flame di si the diameter of the jet, the physical diameter of the nozzle ratio CT is the fuel mole fraction ratio- the stoichiometric ratio of the fuel air mixture Tf si the adiabatic flame temperature Ti is the jet fluid temperature respectively Ma is the molecular weight of air Mf Is the molecular weight of the fuel aT is the moles of reactant per mole of product
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The flame height was also given by the following expression from Mudan & Croce

L 15 = d j CT

Ma Mf
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Radiant flux
The radiant flux reaching the receiver is then given by;

E r = a Q r Fp = a Mb Hc AFp

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