Where to begin - A parametric study for vapor barriers at LNG export facilities

Vapor barriers are widely used to contain the release of flammable mixtures in LNG facilities in the United States. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling tool FLACS has been validated and accepted for detailed consequence modeling of flammable vapor dispersion scenarios and includes capabilities to assess the impact of vapor barriers at varying heights and locations. While every plant design is unique and the optimization of vapor barriers often requires several iterations, guidance on where to begin is often limited. This paper will detail a parametric study on vapor barrier height and placement for different release rates to establish a basis for beginning a vapor barrier design.