Cuboid obstacle influence on high-pressure jet dispersion: A CFD study

In the context of the process industry safety, one of the main accidental scenarios is the release of high-pressure gaseous material. Since natural gas is highly flammable, the likelihood of ignition increases as the jet develops, with a maximum area of effect related to its lower flammability limit ( LFL ). This work aims at simulating and evaluating the interaction between high-pressure natural gas jets and cuboid obstacles, which were selected due to their prevalence in the process industry as storage units or buildings present in industrial parks. The maximum extent of the cloud at the LFL of natural gas is often influenced by the jet-obstacle interactions, necessitating complex numerical methods like computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for accurate estimation. Therefore, this study provides pivotal insights that challenge traditional modelling approaches, like integral ones, offering cost-effective alternatives where needed without compromising on safety. The findings indicate that using a CFD approach is not always necessary, as it largely depends on the storage pressure, diameter size, and the release height of the jet. At storage pressures of 65–130 bar with an orifice diameter of 2.54 cm, and a release height above 2.75 m, simpler methods like integral models are applicable without any substantial reliability loss. This is especially true when the cuboid obstacle is farther away from the release source. At lower release heights, especially if coupled with a larger orifice diameter, the CFD approach should be utilised as jet-cuboid interactions become highly relevant to the development of the jet. • A high-pressure methane jet outflowing from a loss of containment is simulated. • The influence of cuboid obstacles on the LFL extension is investigated by CFD. • A simple procedure that allows estimating the hazardous distance is proposed.