Numerical Study of Turbulent Wind Flow and Hydrocarbon Dispersion in Crude Oil Tank Farms
As a critical link connecting upstream and downstream sectors in the petrochemical industry, crude oil storage tank farms serve as vital hubs for production, transfer, and import/export operations, where safety management presents unique complexities. However, current safety regulations have failed to keep pace with the rapid development of the petrochemical sector, leading to frequent oil-gas leakage incidents. This study investigates the stress states of hydrocarbon components (both near-leakage sources and far-field) and their mixing characteristics with air under complex turbulent flow conditions. We establish a numerical model and solution algorithm capable of describing cross-scale oil-gas dispersion and cloud evolution dynamics. The model is applicable to (1)-High-speed regions near leakage sources (<300 m/s, without shockwave structures); (2)-Far-field environments where atmospheric turbulence dominates hydrogen dispersion concentration fields. Through numerical simulations studies conducted at an actual crude oil, we systematically analyze the "leakage-mixing, cloud formation, dispersion-migration, and flow-dilution" processes under various scenarios. The work quantifies the spreading range and concentration distribution of hydrocarbon clouds at different stages, providing theoretical guidance for quantitative risk assessment of oil-gas leaks in storage areas and Emergency response design.
Authors
- Anfeng Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2795-8978)
- Z. Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5011-0051)
- Yi Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7626-0026)
- Yu Kang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0999-8802)
- Yujie Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1288-7927)
- Qi Cao
Institutions
- Sinopec (China) (CN)
- Ministry of Education (ME)
- National Cancer Registration Service (GB)
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Omega
- Published
- 2025-11-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.5c09362
- Primary Topic
- Wind and Air Flow Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00