| Propylene is an essential olefin in industrial processes,with significant risks posed.Flammable clouds generated due to leaks have the potential to damage equipment or facilities severely,endanger personnel,and harm the environment.Therefore,the propylene spherical tank located in a chemical industrial park was taken as an example,the consequences of a propylene release leading to heavy gas dispersion,followed by potential ignition sources resulting in jet fire(JF),vapor cloud explosion(VCE),and boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion(BLEVE)were investigated,and the possible domino effect on nearby equipment was also examined,to provide a reliable basis for enterprise safety risk assessment.In order to investigate the motion characteristics of the heavy gas cloud formed after propylene leakage,computational fluid dynamics(CFD)software was employed to simulate gas leakage and diffusion.The simulation focused on the propylene spherical tank located in a chemical industrial park and simulated various leak scenarios based on local meteorological conditions.The results showed that,when the wind direction was consistent with the leak direction and wind speeds were at 3.4m/s and 3.8m/s,respectively,the volume of the flammable gas cloud decreased by 10.63%and 12.55%.However,when the wind direction was opposite to the leak direction,the volume of the flammable gas cloud decreased by 57.02%.This suggests that the dispersion of gas clouds in a specific direction is influenced by wind speed and direction and may result in significant volume reductionSubsequently,the consequences of various accidents triggered by the leakage of the propylene tank were evaluated,along with the economic losses caused by them.The impact radius of casualties was determined by calculating the range of consequences using different injury models of accidents,and the economic losses were evaluated by combining the method of the DOW chemical fire and explosion index with the population density and property value of the affected areas.The results demonstrated that the total losses caused by personnel injuries from jet fire,vapor cloud explosion,and BLEVE were 27,200 RMB,14.535 million RMB,and 109.379 million RMB,respectively.The property losses before and after adopting compensation measures were 30.1593 million RMB and 9.217 million RMB,respectively.The different ways in which the three types of accidents cause harm result in a much larger impact radius for vapor cloud explosion and BLEVE compared to jet fire.Additionally,the economic losses and personnel injuries caused by vapor cloud explosion and BLEVE are much greater than those caused by jet fire.Finally,the study investigated the domino effects of the risk caused by the adjacent equipment triggered by the propylene tank.A target equipment damage probability model was established based on Monte Carlo simulations,quantifying the destructive effects on tanks or equipment within the target range caused by uncertainty factors in the leakage process,such as overpressure and thermal radiation,resulting from various accidents.The results revealed that the jet fire accident caused the least damage to the target equipment,with a damage probability of less than 1%within the range of 0-150m.For the vapor cloud explosion accident,the damage degree varied with the target distance:the damage probability to the target equipment within the range of 0-80m was greater than 99%,while the damage probability and distance showed a linear decreasing relationship within the range of 90-150m.The BLEVE accident had the highest probability of causing damage to the target equipment,with a damage probability greater than 99%within the range of 0-150m.Based on the calculation results of the domino effect risk,safety measures were suggested from both active and passive protection aspects. |
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