DEFINITION OF «SAFETY BOUNDARY» IN CASE OF TERRORIST ATTACK WITH CHEMICAL AGENTS

Abstract

Purpose. The work involves the development of a 2D numerical model for calculating the «safety boundary» in the case of a terrorist attack using a chemical agent. The safety boundary is the boundary behind which the emission of a dangerous substance in a terrorist act will lead to undesirable consequences at the site of the attack object. Methodology. To solve this problem, we used an equation conjugated with the equation of mass transfer in the atmospheric air of a chemical agent ejected in the case of a terrorist attack. The simulation takes into account the field of wind speed, atmospheric diffusion, the release intensity of a hazardous substance. For numerical integration of the modeling conjugated equation, new variables are introduced and an implicit difference splitting scheme is applied. A feature of the developed numerical model is the ability to quickly assess the position of the safety boundary near a possible object of attack. Findings. The developed numerical model and computer program can be used for a scientifically grounded assessment of the safety boundary position near significant objects in the event of possible terrorist attacks using chemical (biological) agents. The constructed numerical model can be implemented on computers of small and medium power, which makes it possible to widely use it to solve the problems of the considered class, when developing an emergency response plan. The results of a computational experiment are presented that allow one to evaluate the possibilities of the proposed method for calculating the position of the safety boundary in the case of a terrorist attack using a chemical agent. Originality. An effective method for calculating the position of the safety boundary near the facility, which may be the target of a terrorist attack using a chemically hazardous substance, is proposed. The method is based on the numerical integration of the equation, which is conjugated to the equation of mass transfer of chemically hazardous substances in the atmospheric air. Practical value. The proposed method for calculating the position of the safety boundary near the facility, which may be the target of a terrorist attack using a chemically hazardous substance, can be used to organize protective measures aimed at minimizing the consequences of terrorist attacks.