An integrated quantitative hazard analysis method for natural gas jet release from underground gas storage caverns in salt rock. II: A sample computation and parametric study

It is of great importance and necessity to perform quantitative hazard analysis on possible accidental leakage from gas storage cavern in salt rock. To improve the working safety in the cavern, an integrated quantitative method for hazard analysis on natural gas jet release from caverns in salt rock was presented. In this paper, a sample of gas storage cavern in salt rock was analyzed to demonstrate the presented method. Furthermore, the factors that influence the hazard range of leakage accidents from gas storage cavern in salt rock were discussed. The results indicated that the release rate diminishes with increased pipe length due to friction in steady-state. Meanwhile, the hazard distance from production casing also diminishes with increased pipe length. As the pipeline gets as long as several kilometers, the predicted hazard distance will be constant. However, the hazard distance increases with increasing the operating pressure and pipeline diameter.

► The gas jet release rate increases with reducing pipeline length or increasing operation pressure, release hole diameter.
► The hazard range of jet fire increase with reducing pipeline length or increasing operation pressure, release hole diameter.
► The hazard range of fireball increase with reducing pipeline length or increasing operation pressure, release hole diameter.
► The hazard range of VCE increase with reducing pipeline length or increasing operation pressure, release hole diameter.
► As the pipeline gets longer over several kilometers, the predicted hazard distance will be constant.