Study of Internal Pressure Impact on Sphere Tank Towards Vapour Cloud Explosion: Feyzin Incident

Abstract

In the case of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) tank explosion(s), risk impact assessment on the storage facilities must be carried out. Since every LPG tank has its operating condition, it is essential to decide what the best operating conditions are for each tank. This effort is made to avert an accident from happening, as fires and explosions can be devastating in terms of lives lost and destruction to buildings and the environment. Boil-off and/or ignition of flammable gas can cause the pressure in the tank to increase. Therefore, a method called Planas-Cuchi is applied to determine the Peak Side-On Overpressure, Po, of the LPG tank during the occurrence of explosion. Thermodynamic properties of saturated propane, C3H8, has been chosen as a reference and basis of calculation to determine the parameters involved, such as Explosion Energy, E, Equivalent Mass of TNT, WTNT, and Scaled Overpressure, PS. A cylindrical LPG tank in Feyzin Refinery, France is selected as a point of study in this research. At the end of this study, the most suitable operating pressure of the LPG tank will be determined, and the results are compared and validated using the TNT Equivalent (BREEZE software), Baker-Strehlow model and ARIA investigation report.