Application of CFD (Fluent) to LNG spills into geometrically complex environments

This paper describes the use of Fluent, a widely-used commercial CFD code, to simulate one of the tests in the “Falcon” series of LNG spill tests. The “Falcon” test series was the only series that specifically addressed the effects of impoundment walls and construction obstructions on the behavior and dispersion of the vapor cloud. Most other tests, such as the Coyote and the Burro series, involved spills onto water and relatively flat ground. The paper discusses the critical parameters necessary for a CFD model to accurately predict the behavior of a cryogenic spill in a geometrically complex domain, and presents comparisons between the gas concentrations measured during the Falcon-1 test and those predicted using Fluent. Finally, the paper discusses the effect vapor barriers have in containing part of the spill thereby shortening the ignitable vapor cloud and therefore the required hazard area. This issue was addressed by comparing the Falcon-1 simulation (spill into the impoundment) with the simulation of an identical spill without any impoundment walls, or obstacles within the impoundment area.