Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyze dispersion behavior characteristics and pollution hazard risk after a release of liquid chlorine. A full-scale model of liquid chlorine tanks in an area with a radius range of 3 km was established using FLACS (Flame Acceleration Simulator) code, and the chlorine dispersion characteristics of six leakage scenarios were calculated according to the POOL model, and the individual risk and social risk under different conditions as calculated quantitatively. The results show that leakage occurs in three stages: dynamic dispersion, gravity dispersion, and atmospheric dispersion. Variations in dispersion processes were expressed as “outward expansion” and “inward contraction.” At the same time, dispersion was accompanied by the phenomenon of “cloud separation.” In the six leakage scenarios, the total distance of chlorine dispersion was 84–1000 m for a concentration of 225 ppm, and 27.5–401.3 m for a concentration of 900 ppm. The corresponding times (duration) to the farthest dispersion distance were 235–1345 s and 185–680 s, respectively. Chlorine concentration and dispersion distance are consistent in trend; however, the farthest dispersion distance shows a “delay effect” in time. At 225 ppm and 900 ppm, the delay time was 125–1145 s and 75–480 s indifferent leakage scenarios. The installation of a safety instrument system (SIS) can effectively reduce the risk of chlorine dispersion.
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Data availability
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Abbreviations
- n j :
-
vector of the control volume surface pointing outward perpendicular to the jth direction
- u j :
-
velocity in the jth direction
- S Φ :
-
the source term of Φ
- R Φ :
-
Additional resistance, additional mixing, and/or additional heat transfer due to solid obstacles in the flow
- V cv :
-
volume, m3
- A cv :
-
surface area, m2
- x :
-
hole size, mm
- X j :
-
integral in j direction
- β v :
-
volume porosity
- β j :
-
area porosity
- ρ :
-
fluid density, kg/m3
- ΓΦ :
-
effective turbulent dispersion coefficient
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Acknowledgments
We express sincere gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their insightful suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript.
Funding
The work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51574056, 51604057) and Youth Science and Technology Innovation Project of Sinopec Qingdao Research Institute of Safety Engineering (YQ-59).
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Baoquan Xin: methodology, software, writing; Jianliang Yu: conceptualization, reviewing, revise; Wenyi Dang: investigation, reviewing; Lu Wan: data curation, software.
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Xin, B., Yu, J., Dang, W. et al. Dynamic characteristics of chlorine dispersion process and quantitative risk assessment of pollution hazard. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 46161–46175 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11864-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11864-z