A simplified steady-state model for air, water and steam curtains

Abstract

Curtain mitigation systems are modeled here since they have experimentally shown their efficiency in reducing the concentration of certain toxic gases within dense gas clouds. Air, water and steam are analyzed in a model as the physical barriers to decrease the gas concentration. The model, developed for a steady-state mitigation process, is based on the mass, energy and momentum conservation laws. Concentration estimations during the dispersion before and after the mitigation are performed with a SLAB type model. A sensitivity analysis for each model is given to detect which variables have bigger effects. A release of chlorine is used as an example and the results are calculated in a prototype developed in Visual C++, where the model is solved using the Runge–Kutta 4th order method. The results include the effects of composition, speed, temperature and height of the releasing point as well as a comparison with CFD simulations. The proposed model is simplified and it cannot reproduce eddy effects but it is fast and robust enough. The model provides a set of equations that can be used in numerical problems where explicit derivatives are required, e.g. optimizations procedures.