This guide provides an overview of methods for estimating the characteristics of vapor cloud explosions, flash fires, and boiling-liquid-expanding-vapor explosions (BLEVEs) for practicing engineers. It has been updated to include advanced modeling technology, especially with respect to vapor cloud modeling and the use of computational fluid dynamics. The text also reviews past experimental and theoretical research and methods to estimate consequences. Heavily illustrated with photos, charts, tables, and diagrams, this manual is an essential tool for safety, insurance, regulatory, and engineering students and professionals.

This guide provides an overview of methods for estimating the characteristics of vapor cloud explosions, flash fires, and boiling-liquid-expanding-vapor explosions (BLEVEs) for practicing engineers. It has been updated to include advanced modeling technology, especially with respect to vapor cloud modeling and the use of computational fluid dynamics. The text also reviews past experimental and theoretical research and methods to estimate consequences. Heavily illustrated with photos, charts, tables, and diagrams, this manual is an essential tool for safety, insurance, regulatory, and engineering students and professionals.

The serious consequences of vapor cloud explosions, flash fires, and BLEVEs are very well known. Better understanding of the characteristics of these phenomena and models to calculate their consequences are key to effective prevention and mitigation. Cited by EPA in its 1996 document, "Off-site Consequence Analysis Guidance, " the first half of the book describes the characteristics of these phenomena and gives an overview of past experimental and theoretical research and methods to estimate consequences. The second part focuses on methods for consequence estimating by presenting sample problems. The entire book is heavily illustrated with photos, charts, tables, and diagrams, and each chapter has a full set of references for additional reading.

This CCPS Concept book shows designers and operators of chemical facilities how to realistically estimate the flammable mass in a cloud of accidentally released material that is capable of igniting. It provides information on industry experience with flammable vapor clouds, basic concepts of fires and explosions, and an overview of related computer programs.

This book documents CCPS's Aerosol Research Program to develop a model to predict liquid rainout from release of a pressurized, liquefied gas--and, hence the residual amount of material in a vapor cloud, which may be greater than the amount calculated from an enthalpy chart. RELEASE predicts the rate of fluid discharge, the depressurization, flashing and formation of liquid drops, the entrainment of drops into the vapor cloud, the subsequent spreading of the jet, and rate of liquid rainout to a pool on the ground. Designed in a modular fashion to permit adjustment and corrections as new data become available, its multi-layered approach contains sub-models that include the complexities of many variables, including the effect of liquid superheat, rate of bubble growth, criterion for bubble formation, and heat transfer from the liquid to the growing vapor bubble. To validate RELEASE, CCPS conducted small- and large-scale experiments using superheated water, heated liquefied chlorine, methylamine, and cyclohexane that produced valuable data in an area where data are scarce. This book gives complete access, in text and on CD-ROM, to the model and the test data, giving users an informed ability to apply the model to their own work.

Critical Aspects of Safety and Loss Prevention reflects the author's managerial experience and safety operations experience. This book is a collection of almost 400 thoughts and observations on safety and loss prevention, illustrated by accounts of accidents. The items, mostly short, are arranged alphabetically and cross-references are provided. The accident reports in this volume highlight the ignorance, incompetence and folly but also originality and inventiveness in the cause of accident prevention. This book also argues on the importance of loss prevention over the traditional safety approach. This book will be of interest to persons who work in design, operations and maintenance and to safety professionals.