Numerical simulation and experiment on the law of urban natural gas leakage and diffusion for different building layouts

Abstract

To provide a more reliable theoretical basis for emergency-management decisions following accidental natural gas leaks, a numerical simulation and an experiment were conducted in this study to investigate the effects of complex construction environments on natural gas leakage and diffusion laws. The design of a building was divided into an enclosed layout, a patch layout, and a street canyon layout, from the perspective of their impact on environmental winds. Natural gas leakage and diffusion in three layouts were simulated using a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model, in which both the distribution of natural gas concentration and dangerous areas were determined through comparative analysis. The results of a small-sized experiment showed that the blocking function of an enclosed layout for environmental wind was the highest, its vortex effect was the strongest, and its range of high gas concentration was the widest among the layouts. A cavity among the buildings was the site of major gas accumulation, making it the most crucial area for the emergency management of accidental natural gas leaks. The proposed CFD model was demonstrated be able to be used to simulate and predict the diffusion of natural gas in cases of accidental leakage. And the results of this study can guide building layout planning and gas pipeline construction to prevent accidents.