Research Of Chemical Storage Tank Area Risk Assessment Under The Effect Of Multiple Pool Fires

In recent decades,companies in the chemical industry have been forced to “cluster” as chemical industrial parks(CIP),due to economies of scope,environmental factors,social motives and legal requirements.The storage tank area is an important part of CIP and most of materials stored in the tanks are flammable,explosive and toxic.With those hazardous materials,the potential for fire exists in storage tank areas,including pool fires,flash fires and jet fires,and among them the pool fires occur most frequently.When two or more pool fires burn in such close proximity of one another that they can influence each other,so they are termed ‘multiple pool fires’(MPF).The characteristics and structure of MPFs are significantly different from that of ‘stand-alone pool fires’(SPF).MPFs often cause catastrophic consequences;therefore,the study of MPFs risk assessment is necessary,which provides theoretical basis for eliminating and controlling MPFs risk.Firstly,based on a large number of domestic and foreign researches,the number,fire scenes and causes of MPFs in storage tank areas were analyzed.And the research progress and empirical models of SPFs and MPFs were also summarized.Then,based on the statistical and theoretical researches of MPFs,the FDS simulation framework of pool fires in tank area was proposed and the results evidence that FDS is applicable to MPFs in the storage tank area by comparing the simulation results those based on the empirical models.Finally,the risk assessment frame of chemical storage tank area under MPFs was established on the basis of the chemical risk assessment theory.By using FDS,the risk of different basic pool fires scenarios was calculated.On the basis of the calculation results,the safety distance and prevention measures for MPFs were given.