LNG POOL FIRE MODELING

Background: The MTB Model and the Need for Better Modeling Methods View Factor Models: LNGFIRE as an Example Theoretical Fire Models: The FDS Computational Fluid Dynamics Model as an Example

EXERCISE #2
What determines the radiant (thermal) energy you receive from a liquid pool fire?

ALPHABET SOUP
MTB (Materials Transportation Bureau, U. S. DOT RSPA (Research and Special Programs Administration, U. S. DOT) PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, U. S. DOT)

THE MTB MODEL FOR POOL FIRES

Promulgated into 49 CFR 193.2057 in 1980s Resulted from Review of 1971 NFPA, U. S. Bureau of Mines, AGA-Sponsored, ESSO, U. S. Coast Guard-Sponsored Work
d = f (A)0.5 where:

d = exclusion distance measured perpendicular to flame surface to target A = horizontal area of impoundment f = offsite classification factor based on radiant flux limit.
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THE MTB MODEL (Cont.)

= Tilt angle = 45o (always) L = Flame Length = reduces to 3 D (always) D = Equivalent Diameter (rectangular as well as circular impoundments) f:
f 3 1.6 1.1 0.8 Incident Flux Btu/hr ft2 1,600 4,000 6,700 10,000 Incident Flux kW/m3 5.05 12.62 21.14 31.54
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INCIDENT FLUX LIMITS

Off Site Description at Target*
Outdoor areas occupied by 20 or more persons during normal use, such as beaches, playgrounds, outdoor theaters, other recreation areas or other places of public assembly Buildings that are used for residences, or occupied by 20 or more persons during normal use Public streets, highways, and mainlines of railroads Other structures, or if closer to [its normal angle to the flame surface], the right-of-way of the facility

Incident Flux, Btu/hr ft2

1,600

Incident Flux, kW/m2

5.05

4,000 6,700 10,000

12.62 21.14 31.54

*Abbreviated definitions from 49 CFR 193.2057(1980).

CRITICISMS OF THE MTB MODEL*

L and Fixed Specifications are Unsupported Point Source Energy Model (used for calculating target energy from flame surface and f factors) is Inferior to Full Flame Surface Representation (cylinder or parallelepiped) Average Maximum (black body) Surface Emissive Power Specification - Estimated 142.0 kW/m2 (45,000 Btu/hr ft2) Is Not Consistent with Data
*Full technical discussion in: LNGFIRE: A Thermal Radiation Model for LNG Fires, Gas Research
Institute, GRI-89/0178, June 29, 1990.
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CRITICISMS OF THE MTB MODEL (Cont.)

Surface Emissive Power is Not Constant; Varies Exponentially With Flame Thickness Flame Length Varies With Burning Rate (and, secondarily, wind speed); Slight Differences for Equilateral Pools and Elongated Trenches Flame Tilt Angle Varies With Respect to Wind Speed and Dimensions (size and shape) of Impoundment Flame Drag May be Important; Varies With Wind Speed Elongated Trenches Radiation Attenuation Due to Water Vapor.
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LNGFIRE (1989)
Currently Referenced Model in 49 CFR 193.2057 Resulted from Several Years of Effort to Resolve MTB Model Criticisms, Including Need to Model Elongated Trenches Key Research Coast Guard (view factors) Shell (surface emissive powers) British Gas (correlations of flame length, tilt, and drag) GRI-ADL/British Gas (trench fires) 10

LNGFIRE SUMMARY
Model Type: Semi-Empirical Basic Equation
q = F qs where: q = Incident radiant heat flux at the target (kW/m2) F = Geometric view factor from flame surface to the target (nondimensional) = Transmissivity of the atmosphere to thermal energy (0 to 1) = Average emissivity of the flame (%) qs = Maximum effective black body radiation of the flame (kW/m2) qs= Surface Emissive Power (kW/m2)
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VIEW FACTOR CONSIDERATIONS

Integration: FdA1A2 = 1 / cos1 cos2 dA2/r2

A2

Piecewise:

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VIEW FACTOR: REQUIRED COVERAGE

Vertical and Horizontal Targets Targets in the Flame Shadow

Elevated Flame Bases Relative to Target

Elevated Targets Relative to Flame Bases

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FLAME LENGTH CALCULATION*

Lf/D = 42 (m / a (gD))0.61 where: Lf D g m a = = = = = Flame Length (m) Pool Diameter (m) Gravitational Acceleration (m/s2) Mass Burning Rate (kg/m2s) Ambient Air Density (kg/m3)

*Calculation for circular pool.

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FLAME TILT CALCULATION*

cos = 1 / U* cos = 1 where: U* U Uc m v = = = = = U / Uc Wind Velocity (m/s) Characteristic Velocity = (m gD / v)1/3 Mass Burning Rate (kg/m2s) LNG Vapor Density (kg/m3) for U* > 1 for U* 1

*Calculation for circular pool.

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FLAME DRAG CALCULATION*

DR = where: DR D D Fr = = = = Drag Ratio (Drag Distance/Diameter) Pool Diameter (m) Extension of the Flame Base Beyond Pool Edge Froude Number = u2 / gD (D + D)/D = 1.5 (Fr)0.069

*Calculation for circular pool.

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BURNING RATE CALCULATION

m = 0.11 [ 1 exp (-0.46D)] or: m = 0.11 kg/m2s

where: m D = LNG Burning Rate (kg / m2s) = Pool Diameter (m)

*Calculation for circular pool.

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ATMOSPHERIC TRANSMISSIVITY
= 1 - w - c + wc

where: w = Absorptivity of Water Vapor c = Absorptivity of Carbon Dioxide

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FLAME SURFACE EMISSIVE POWER

qs = where: = qs = Df = Flame Emissivity Maximum Effective Black Body Radiation Emissive Power (kW/m2) Flame Thickness (m) 190 (1 - e-0.3Df)

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HYPOTHETICAL ZONED FLAME

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SURFACE EMISSIVE POWERS AS MEASURED*

*GRI-ADL/British Gas trench fire tests, Test #8, side view

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MONTOIR 35 METER POOL FIRES (1987)

Test #1

Test #2

Test #3

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SURFACE EMISSIVE POWER DATA AND CURVE FIT FOR LNGFIRE EQUATION

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LNGFIRE VALIDATION AND MTB MODEL COMPARISON, DOWNWIND*

*GRI-ADL/British Gas trench fire tests, Test #4

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LNGFIRE VALIDATION AND MTB MODEL COMPARISON, CROSSWIND*

*GRI-ADL/British Gas trench fire tests, Test #4

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OTHER REGULATORY MODELS

FIRES2 British Gas/Advantica CORE Gaz de France Model Comparison Results to Montoir 35m Scale Pool Fire Scenarios, Including Experiments: The conditions [calculations] corresponding to the Montoir experiments lead to a rather good agreement,with relative differences being 10 to 30% [for crosswind and downwind, respectively].*
*Debernardy, J. L., Perroux, J. M., Nedelka, D. Comparison of LNG Fire Radiation Calculation Codes, Gaz de France, 1992.
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BUT DO SEMI-EMPIRICAL VIEW FACTOR MODELS MEET ALL NEEDS?

Irregular Shapes: Unconfined Spreading, Flow Barriers Interaction with Fire Control Measures Structures in Flames and Their Interaction with Fire Dynamics (e.g., presence of a tank shell) Smoke Shielding Transient Behaviors

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THEORETICAL MODELS FOR POOL FIRES: FDS

FDS Fire Dynamics Simulator (Version 4, 2004), Developed and Supported by the U. S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Under Development for 25 Years Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Model for Low-Speed Fire-Driven Flow Emphasizing Heat Transport and Smoke Time-Dependent ,3-D Spatially Computed Differencing Solutions Approximating the Partial Differential Navier-Stokes Equations for Conservation of Mass, Momentum, and Energy
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FDS APPLICATIONS
Low-Speed Transport of Heat and Combustion Products from Fires (Thermal Radiation Computed Using a Finite Volume Technique Within the 3-D Grid) Radiative and Convective Heat Transfer Between Gas and Solid Surfaces Pyrolysis Flame Spread and Fire Growth Interactions with Fire Suppression and Detection Systems
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FDS MODEL RESULTS

Within the Fire Plume and Surrounding Air
Gas Temperature, Velocity, Concentration by Species, and Density Smoke Concentration and Visibility Pressure Heat Release Rate per Unit Volume Mixture Fraction Water Droplet Mass per Unit Volume

Impingement on Solid Surfaces

Surface and Interior Temperatures Radiative and convective Heat Flux Burning Rate

Others, Including Global Quantities

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FDS GENERAL MODEL STRUCTURE

Hydrodynamics Model, Including Navier-Stokes Approximation Differencing Equations and Turbulence:
Large Eddy Simulation (LES) Course Grids Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) Fine Grids

Combustion Model, Based on Scalar Quantity Mixture Fraction Radiation Transport Model, Based on Finite Volume Method (FVM) Including 100 Discrete Transport Angles Geometry (Gridding) Model for One or More Rectilinear Grids Boundary Condition Definitions, Assessed as Thermal as well as Physical Boundaries for Controlling Heat and Mass Transfer Fire Target Response Models, Including Sprinkler and Detectors, and Water Sprays (Lagrangian Droplets)
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FUNDAMENTAL CONSERVATION EQUATIONS

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SIMPLIED EQUATIONS USED IN FDS

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VALIDATION FOR POOL FIRES

Historical Development on Unconfined Fires Since 2000 and Revision Code:
Methane Pool Fire 1 m diameter (Xin,et. al., 2002) Methane and Methanol Pools (Hostikka, et. al., 2002) Heptane Pools (Hietaniemi, et. al., 2004)

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COMPUTER REQUIREMENTS
Recommended Minimum:
Windows-Based PC Running 1 GHz Pentium III, with 512 MB RAM 1 GB Storage per Average Large Simulation

But Really - The Faster (and Bigger), the Better

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DOCUMENTATION
FDS

SMOKEVIEW Website: http://www.fire.nist.gov/fds/

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GENERAL STEPS FOR SETTING UP FDS RUNS

Input Files Setting Time Limits Defining Computational Domain (i.e., Grid Mesh) Defining Boundary Conditions Defining Fire Conditions Via Combustion Parameters Defining Obstructions, Mitigation Systems Running Monitoring Progress Error Statements Output Files Point Measurements Within the Domain Animated Planar Slices, Boundary Quantities, Isosurfaces (SMOKEVIEW) Static Data Files

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POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS OF CFD TO LNG FIRES

Addressing Limitation of View Factor Models Non-Regulatory Cases
Complex, Progressive Failures Complex Consequence Analysis Analysis of Hazard Mitigation Measures Phenomena Other Than Pool Fires?

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