CFD simulation study on gas dispersion for risk assessment: A case study of sour gas well blowout

Compared with general blowout, the process of sour gas well blowout is more complex. The exchange of gas state is affected by many factors, and the consequences of the accident are serious. It is difficult to find out the rule of gas dispersion and predict the distribution of toxic gas. Fluent code was used to model the sour gas dispersion in the atmosphere after well blowout. The “12.23” sour gas well blowout, which was happened in Kai County, Chongqing, Sichuan, China, was the research background. The blowout accident model was set up to simulate the real process. Models were built based on real topography. Wind speed and atmospheric stability of the day which the accident happened were set as the operation conditions, and the composition, injection rate, and temperature of the gas at the actual time were set as the boundary conditions of numerical simulation. The analysis of gas dispersion based on simulation results conducted from two aspects, height and dispersion time. A comparison of field data with simulation data demonstrated that CFD technology can be an effective aid to describe the process of sour gas dispersion and can also predict the tendency of gas dispersion and gas distribution. Furthermore, it can provide guidance on design emergency response zone (ERZ).

► A numerical simulation case study of the typical gas well blowout accident was provided.
► The essential parameters were identified to set up a CFD model.
► From the result of simulation, we can predict the tendency of gas dispersion and gas distribution.