Consequence modelling: overview of hazards

Eric Marsden
<[email protected]

‘‘
From little spark may burst a mighty flame.

— Dante, Paradise
Consequence assessment

▷ Many things can go wrong on a hazardous industrial facility, leading to

an unintended release of hazardous material or an uncontrolled
release of energy

▷ Consequence assessment is a rigorous and methodical examination of the

direct undesirable impacts of a loss of containment of material or energy
• impacts on people, the environment and the process

▷ Applications:
• design of new facilities: suggest optimal separation distances
• risk assessment of a facility for safety case
• emergency planning and land use planning: estimate impact distances for
major accident scenarios

▷ Highly technical area, requiring detailed process safety expertise

• this presentation: an overview of major hazards in the process industries
Relevant for many types of facilities

▷ Chemical plants, refineries

▷ Steel works

▷ Manufacturing plants

▷ Power plants

▷ Storage depots

▷ Offshore oil & gas facilities (rigs, fpsos)

▷ Pipelines transporting hazardous materials

▷ Underground gas storage facilities

Chemical plants
Steel works
Power plants

Image source: Cruas-Meysse nuclear power plant, flic.kr/p/neGatj, CC BY licence

Storage depots
Offshore oil rigs
Offshore oil complexes

ge
3 km from one ed
to the other…

Photo credit (Ekofisk complex, North Sea): ConocoPhillips

FPSO

FPSO: Floating Production,

Storage and Offloading unit

Floating vessel used by the

offshore oil & gas industry
to extract, process and
temporarily store
hydrocarbons.
Offshore oil complexes

Photo credit: Total

Hazmat pipelines

Hazmat:
hazardous
material
Underground gas storage sites
Where does this fit into risk engineering?

curve
fitting
data probabilistic model consequence model

event probabilities event consequences

risks
Where does this fit into risk engineering?

curve
fitting
data probabilistic model consequence model

event probabilities event consequences

risks costs

criteria

decision-making
Where does this fit into risk engineering?

These slides
curve
fitting
data probabilistic model consequence model

event probabilities event consequences

risks costs

criteria

decision-making
Consequence modelling

release
accident type
hazard scenarios event trees
identification
release
dispersion models
models
release
consequences
quantification
fire/explosion
models

domino
effects
Modelling stages

top event consequences

thermal
fire
radiation
Dispersion
Discharge (release models)
▷ weather conditions
▷ storage conditions
▷ topographical
▷ flow rate
conditions explosion overpressure
▷ composition and phase
▷ release composition
▷ release type (leak, line rupture)
▷ orientation
▷ release duration
▷ concentrations of
▷ orientation
interest
toxic
toxic effects
dispersion
Flammable
hazards
Ordinary fire

Left: results of fire in a perfume warehouse

Ordinary fires are a major source of losses

(material damage, lost production, sometimes
injured workers) in industry.

Large amounts of information available from:

▷ US National Fire Protection Association
(nfpa), at nfpa.org

▷ Insurers and reinsurers (Munich Re,

Swiss Re, Allianz, Mapfre, Marsh…)

Image source: Munich Re

Jet fire

▷ Jet fire: turbulent diffusion flame resulting from

combustion of a continuous release of flammable
liquid or vapour with some significant momentum in a
particular direction
• may arise from release of gaseous, flashing liquid (two
phase) and pure liquid inventories
• may be affected by wind
• high heat flux on impinging objects can lead to structural
failure and escalation (domino effects)
• high pressure jet fires are significant hazards for oil & gas
industry
Well fire in Irak
Gas flare on offshore oil platform

Flare stacks (or gas flares) are used to burn

natural gas associated with oil production on
offshore platforms which aren’t equipped with
gas transportation infrastructure.

They lead to a controlled jet fire.

Image source: flic.kr/p/csKcjw, CC BY-NC-SA licence

Gas flare on a refinery

Gas flares or flare stacks are used to burn

flammable gas and petroleum products during
emergency shutdowns of refineries and
chemical plants.

They are also used to burn products during

shutdowns and startups.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA licence

Jet fire: Piper Alpha platform
▷ Piper Alpha: a North Sea oil production platform north of
Aberdeen, accounting for 10% of North Sea production at
the time

▷ Poor information transmission during maintenance and bad

use of permit-to-work led to gas leak (July 1988)

▷ Explosion and resulting fire destroyed platform, killing 167

people

▷ Flames over 100 m high, visible from 100 km

Pool fire

▷ Pool fire: a turbulent diffusion fire burning above a horizontal

pool of vapourizing hydrocarbon fuel
• fuel may be spilled on land, on water, on a building
• pool may be confined (tank, containment bund) or unconfined

▷ Heat radiation depends on product burning

• heavier hydrocarbons burn with smoky flame
• light hydrocarbons burn with much brighter flame

▷ Significant hazard for oil and gas industry

Pool fire

Sitapura, India (2009) storage fire accident

Pool fire

Buncefield fire (uk, 2005)

Pool fire

Buncefield fire (uk, 2005)

Pool fire

Aftermath of Buncefield fire (uk, 2005)

Explosion
hazards
BLEVE

▷ BLEVE: Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosion

▷ Failure of pressure vessel containing pressurized liquid

▷ Pressure drop causes violent boiling, rapid expansion and

vaporization

▷ Typically occurs due to external heat source from other process

emergency (e.g. jet fire) impinging on vessel

▷ Flammable liquids lead to fireball

▷ Flame spreads through 360°

 Fuels such as butane and
propane are generally stored as
gas pressurized liquids at a
phase temperature higher than their
boiling point.
Typical pressures: 17 bar (1700
kPa).

liquid
phase
An initial event (often a jet fire)
leads to heat impinging on
the storage vessel.
Pressure inside the tank
increases.
The liquid in the tank cools
down the metal in the lower
part of the vessel, but the upper
part of the tank may become
weaker due to heat.
The vessel fails, initially with
only a small hole.
Gas leaks from the hole,
rapidly lowering the pressure
inside the tank.
The liquefied gas boils
violently (its boiling point is
pressure-dependent).
BLEVE: Boiling Liquid
Expanding Vapour Explosion
The boiling liquid vapourizes,
increasing pressure in the
vessel and ripping it open. A
huge volume of gas is ejected
into the atmosphere.
Massive blast. If material is
flammable, a huge fireball
forms with massive heat
radiation.
BLEVE after train derailment in
Casselton, North Dakota (2013)
BLEVE: explanatory video

Explanatory video: youtu.be/UM0jtD_OWLU

Preventing BLEVEs in LPG tanks

Water will reduce

heat input

Remotely operated Insulation reduces

depressurizing valve heat input
allows stress on the
vessel to be
reduced
No liquid to absorb heat.
Walls may overheat and burst
below relief valve set pressure

Boiling liquid
absorbs heat and
prevents the walls
getting too hot

Slope the
ground to prevent liquid
accumulating under the vessel

Image source: Loss Prevention Bulletin 077, 1987

Vapour cloud explosion (VCE)
▷ Typical steps leading to a vce:
1 release of a large quantity of flammable vapor (often after rupture of a pressure
vessel)
2 vapour disperses on the site and mixes with air
3 one part of the cloud reaches an ignition source (heat, static electricity) and
ignites

▷ Major hazard for plants processing liquefied gasses and high pressure
gasses
• potentially very destructive…

▷ Controls:
• prevent leaks from all process equipment
• (last resort) zones that are particularly susceptible to leaks are classified
“atex” (explosive atmosphere: any equipment installed is designed not to
become an ignition source)
Related CSB safety video

us csb safety video Filling blind, 2015

Watch the video: youtu.be/41QMaJqxqIo

Flammable consequences: radiation

Radiation
intensity Observed effect
(kW/m2 )

37.5 Sufficient to cause damage to process equipment

Minimum energy for piloted ignition of wood, melting

12.5
of plastic tubing

Sufficient to cause pain to personnel if unable to reach

4
cover within 20 seconds

1.6 Will cause no discomfort for long exposure

Note: normal sunny day = 1 kW/m2

Explosion consequences

▷ Flammable vapor cloud which is within the flammable limits of

the fluid

▷ Explosions can be confined or unconfined

• confinement increases flame speed
• confined explosions are far more hazardous

▷ Air burst or ground burst depending on cloud buoyancy

Explosion consequences
Explosion consequences
Explosion consequences
Explosion consequences
Gas explosion at Ghislenghien (2004)

▷ High pressure (70 bar) pipeline transporting natural gas from

Zeebrugge towards France

▷ Pipeline probably damaged during terracing works in the area

▷ Leak and explosion in town of Ghislenghien, Belgium, July 2004

▷ 24 people killed in explosion

▷ Flames from jet fire reach almost 100 m into the sky

More info: www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/fiche_detaillee/27681/

Flammability hazards in risk assessment

▷ FERA: Fire and Explosion Risk Analysis

▷ Undertaken during concept development and design phases

• mostly for offshore oil and gas projects

▷ Identify major accident scenarios (dimensioning/credible worst case)

▷ Estimate probability of fire/explosion scenarios and their consequences

▷ Verify the suitability of the planned fire safety/explosion equipment

Dust explosions

▷ The dust of a combustible material can be explosible if

suspended in air at certain concentrations

▷ Even materials that don’t burn in larger pieces can be explosible

in dust form (e.g. aluminium, iron)
• in many accidents, employers and employees unaware of the
existence of a hazard

▷ Dust explosions can destroy buildings and kill people

▷ Often a small primary explosion raises dust in the air and leads
to larger secondary explosions

▷ Many industries concerned

• food, grain storage, plastics, wood, paper, rubber, textiles,
pharmaceuticals, coal, metals, fossil fuel power generation
Causes of a dust explosion

presence of an
oxidant (such as
combustible dust atmospheric 𝑂2 )

dust explosion

dust is suspended in
ignition source the air at the correct
concentration

dust is confined
Related CSB safety video

us csb safety video Inferno: dust explosion at Imperial Sugar, 2008

Watch the video: youtu.be/Jg7mLSG-Yws

Related CSB safety video

us csb safety video Combustible Dust: Solutions Delayed, 2014

Watch the video: youtu.be/ADK5doMk3-k

Relevant modeling software
Using modeling tools

▷ Consequence assessment can make use of:

• equations taken from professional literature
• numerical charts calculated from equations or from experimental data
• software models

▷ Effective use of these tools requires good knowledge of the physical

phenomena involved
• to select an appropriate model
• to understand whether results are physically plausible

▷ Users of these tools should always keep uncertainty in mind when

presenting results
Phast (DNV GL Software)

Commercial tool which is widely used for consequence assessment in the chemicals, energy
and offshore sectors. Can model a range of hazards, uses a 2D dispersion model.

Source: DNV GL Software

Phast (DNV GL Software)

Commercial tool which is widely used for consequence assessment in the chemicals, energy
and offshore sectors. Can model a range of hazards, uses a 2D dispersion model.

Source: DNV GL Software

Phast (DNV GL Software)

Commercial tool which is widely used for consequence assessment in the chemicals, energy
and offshore sectors. Can model a range of hazards, uses a 2D dispersion model.

Source: DNV GL Software

Flacs (GexCon) CFD: computation
mi cs
al
flu id dy na

A commercial cfd tool for modelling dispersion, explosion and fire effects. Is widely used in
the offshore oil and gas sector.

Source: GexCon, gexconus.com

Flacs (GexCon) CFD: computation
mi cs
al
flu id dy na

A commercial cfd tool for modelling dispersion, explosion and fire effects. Is widely used in
the offshore oil and gas sector.
Source: GexCon, gexconus.com
Kameleon FireEx KFX (ComputIT)

Watch evolution of a hydrocarbon jet fire predicted by KFX: youtu.be/HxZ5E23ZXHo

Source: ComputIT
Aloha (US EPA)

Simple tool which can estimate threat zones for toxic gas releases, flammable gas releases,
bleves, jet fires, pool fires, vapor cloud explosions. Free software from us epa.

Web: epa.gov/cameo/aloha-software
Aloha (US EPA)

Simple tool which can estimate threat zones for toxic gas releases, flammable gas releases,
bleves, jet fires, pool fires, vapor cloud explosions. Free software from us epa.

Web: epa.gov/cameo/aloha-software
FDS (NIST)

The Fire Dynamics Simulator is a sophisticated cfd tool for modelling fire propagation and
atmospheric dispersion. Free software from the us nist.

Web: nist.gov/services-resources/software/fds-and-smokeview
HyRAM (Sandia)

HyRAM is a tool for estimating the

consequences of accidents involving
hydrogen. It can estimate likelihood
of equipment failures and includes
sophisticated models for hydrogen
release and flame physics.
Free software from Sandia National
Laboratories.

Web: hyram.sandia.gov
HyRAM (Sandia)

Web: hyram.sandia.gov
Applications
What are consequence modelling outputs used for?

▷ Design of new facilities

• example: suggesting optimal separation distances between units, to avoid
domino effects

▷ Risk assessment of a facility to provide input to a safety case

▷ Emergency planning:
• estimate impact distances for major accident scenarios to develop evacuation
scenarios
• calculate quantity of firefighting equipment necessary (fire water, sprinklers,
lances…)

▷ Land use planning: decide on zoning restrictions for land use, siting of
public facilities (schools…), location of infrastructure (roads, railways…)
Emergency planning
▷ Typically, start with a list of maximum credible accident scenarios

▷ Identify on-site and off-site consequences of each scenario

• quantity of hazardous materials that could be released as a result of an accident
(including smoke effluent from fires), rate of release, effect of explosions, effect
of thermal radiation from fires, effect of hazardous materials that could be
released

▷ List control and containment measures

• firefighting equipment, groundwater capture systems, alerting mechanisms,
protective equipment such as gas masks, emergency power systems,
evacuation plans…

▷ Define command structure and communication channels in case of

emergency
• roster of on-call personnel defined
• link with off-site emergency services defined
Emergency planning

▷ All personnel should receive training on their responsibility in case of an

emergency

▷ Emergency plan should be regularly tested

• test readiness to respond
• for example, one scenario every three years, ideally with external emergency
response teams

▷ Plan should be reviewed periodically and whenever significant

changes are made to the facility
Land use planning: MIACC guidelines

Annual Individual Risk

(chance of fatality per year)

100 in a million 10 in a million 1 in a million

(10-4) (10-5) (10-6)

Risk No other Manufacturing, Commercial, offices, All other uses including

source land use warehouses, open space low-density institutions,
(parkland, golf courses, residential high-density residential,
etc.) etc.

Allowable Land Uses

Source: Major Industrial Accidents Council of Canada (MIACC) risk acceptability criteria
Land use planning: PPRT legislation in France

B1

B2
R1

R2

R3

R4
r1

b1 0 100 200
Légende :
toxique_TF+ R4 Mètres
toxique_TF+ R3
toxique_TF+ R2
surpression_Fai, toxique_TF+ R1
toxique_F+ r1
toxique_M+ B2 Plan de Prévention des Risques Technologiques
surpression_Fai, toxique_M+ B1 Société HERAKLES SAFRAN à Toulouse (31)
toxique_M b1

Emprise HERAKLES SAFRAN

Périmètre d'étude
 Affaire n° : 4330940
ZONAGE BRUT

05/2012
Réalisation : KTl
Contrôle : Avn
Image credits

▷ Chemical plant (slide 4): Bill Ohl via flic.kr/p/5DGzk, CC BY-ND licence

▷ Steel works (slide 5): Ralph Grant via flic.kr/p/5W9eaH, CC BY-SA licence

▷ Storage depot (slide 7): Rennet Stowe via flic.kr/p/p1FrxH, CC BY licence

▷ Oil rig (slide 8): cclark395 via flic.kr/p/iv2qQH, CC BY-NC licence

▷ Pipeline (slide 10): rickz via flic.kr/p/4dJLmX, CC BY-NC-ND licence

▷ Gas storage site: GorissenM via flic.kr/p/sjwAE6, CC BY-SA licence

▷ Flames (slide 15), flic.kr/p/a6qFq2, CC BY-NC-ND licence

▷ Well fire in Irak (slide 18): Wikimedia Commons, public domain

▷ Explosion (slide 25), flic.kr/p/5menMy, CC BY-NC-ND licence

▷ Emergency response (slide 46), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers via flic.kr/p/9gGtxK, CC-BY licence

For more free content on risk engineering,

visit risk-engineering.org
Further reading

▷ Fire, Explosion and Risk Assessment Topic Guidance from the UK

Health and Safety Executive’s Hazardous Installations
Directorate,
hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/hid/manuals/pmtech12.pdf

▷ OGP report Risk Assessment Data Directory, available at

www.iogp.org

▷ The famous Yellow Book published by TNO contains large

amounts of information on hazardous phenomena

For more free content on risk engineering,

visit risk-engineering.org
Feedback welcome!
This presentation is distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution – Share Alike licence

@LearnRiskEng

fb.me/RiskEngineering

Was some of the content unclear? Which parts were most useful to
you? Your comments to [email protected]
(email) or @LearnRiskEng (Twitter) will help us to improve these
materials. Thanks!

For more free content on risk engineering,

visit risk-engineering.org