Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Page 1 of 5
Accidental release source terms are the mathematical equations that quantify the flow rate at which accidental releases of air pollutants into the
ambient environment can occur at industrial facilities such as petroleum refineries, petrochemical plants, natural gas processing plants, oil and gas
transportation pipelines, chemical plants, and many other industrial activities. Governmental regulations in many countries require that the probability of
such accidental releases be analyzed and their quantitative impact upon the environment and human health be determined so that mitigating steps can
be planned and implemented.
There are a number of mathematical calculation methods for determining the flow rate at which gaseous and liquid pollutants might be released from
various types of accidents. Such calculational methods are referred to as source terms, and this article on accidental release source terms explains
some of the calculation methods used for determining the mass flow rate at which gaseous pollutants may be accidentally released.
Contents
1 Accidental release of pressurized gas
1.1 Ramskill's equation for non-choked mass flow
2 Evaporation of non-boiling liquid pool
2.1 The U.S. Air Force method
2.2 The U.S. EPA method
6 References
7 External links
to or greater than [(k + 1) 2 ] k(k - 1 ), where k is the specific heat ratio of the discharged gas (sometimes called the isentropic expansion factor and
sometimes denoted as ).
For many gases, k ranges from about 1.09 to about 1.41, and therefore [(k + 1) 2 ] k(k - 1 ) ranges from 1.7 to about 1.9, which means that choked
velocity usually occurs when the absolute source vessel pressure is at least 1.7 to 1.9 times as high as the absolute downstream ambient atmospheric
pressure.
When the gas velocity is choked, the equation for the mass flow rate in SI metric units is:[1][2][3][4]
For the above equations, it is important to note that although the gas velocity reaches a maximum and becomes choked, the mass flow rate is
not choked. The mass flow rate can still be increased if the source pressure is increased.
Whenever the ratio of the absolute source pressure to the absolute downstream ambient pressure is less than [ ( k + 1 ) 2 ] k ( k - 1 ), then the gas
velocity is non-choked (i.e., sub-sonic) and the equation for mass flow rate is:
where:
Q = mass flow rate, kg/s
mhtml:file://C:\Users\Joe\Dropbox\JCA - Safety Solns\Haz Area Class\Course\Accidental release source terms - Wikip... 28/06/2013
Page 2 of 5
first occurs. The initial instantaneous flow rate from a leak in a pressurized gas system or vessel is much higher than the average flow rate during the
overall release period because the pressure and flow rate decrease with time as the system or vessel empties. Calculating the flow rate versus time
since the initiation of the leak is much more complicated, but more accurate. Two equivalent methods for performing such calculations are presented and
compared at www.air-dispersion.com/feature2.html.
The technical literature can be very confusing because many authors fail to explain whether they are using the universal gas law constant R which
applies to any ideal gas or whether they are using the gas law constant Rs which only applies to a specific individual gas. The relationship between the
two constants is Rs = R/M.
Notes:
P.K. Ramskill's equation [5][6] for the non-choked flow of an ideal gas is shown below as equation (1):
(1)
, in Ramskill's equation is the ideal gas density at the downstream conditions of temperature and pressure and it is defined in
(2)
Since the downstream temperature TA is not known, the isentropic expansion equation below [7] is used to determine TA in terms of the known upstream
temperature T:
(3)
Combining equations (2) and (3) results in equation (4) which defines
(4)
Using equation (4) with Ramskill's equation (1) to determine non-choked mass flow rates for ideal gases gives identical results to the results obtained
using the non-choked flow equation presented in the previous section above.
mhtml:file://C:\Users\Joe\Dropbox\JCA - Safety Solns\Haz Area Class\Course\Accidental release source terms - Wikip... 28/06/2013
Page 3 of 5
The following equations are for predicting the rate at which liquid evaporates from the surface of a pool of liquid which is at or near the ambient
temperature. The equations were derived from field tests performed by the U.S. Air Force with pools of liquid hydrazine. [2]
where:
E = evaporation flux, (kg/min)/m of pool surface
u = windspeed just above the liquid surface, m/s
TA = absolute ambient temperature, K
where:
= 2.7183, the base of the natural logarithm system
= natural logarithm
NB The constant used here is 0.284 from the mixed unit formula/2.205 lb/kg. The 82.05 become 1.0 = (ft/m)^2 x mmHg/kPa.
where:
E = evaporation rate, kg/min
u = windspeed just above the pool liquid surface, m/s
M = pool liquid molecular weight, dimensionless
A = surface area of the pool liquid, m
P = vapor pressure of the pool liquid at the pool temperature, kPa
T = pool liquid absolute temperature, K
The U.S. EPA also defined the pool depth as 0.01 m (i.e., 1 cm) so that the surface area of the pool liquid could be calculated as:
A = (pool volume, in m)/(0.01)
Notes:
1 kPa = 0.0102 kgf/cm = 0.01 bar
mol = mole
atm = atmosphere
The following equations are for predicting the rate at which liquid evaporates from the surface of a pool of liquid which is at or near the ambient
temperature. The equations were developed by Warren Stiver and Dennis Mackay of the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Toronto.
[8]
mhtml:file://C:\Users\Joe\Dropbox\JCA - Safety Solns\Haz Area Class\Course\Accidental release source terms - Wikip... 28/06/2013
Page 4 of 5
where:
E = evaporation flux, (kg/s)/m of pool surface
k = mass transfer coefficient, m/s = 0.002 u
TA = absolute ambient temperature, K
M = pool liquid molecular weight, dimensionless
P = pool liquid vapor pressure at ambient temperature, Pa
R = the universal gas law constant = 8314.5 Pam/(kmolK)
u = windspeed just above the liquid surface, m/s
where:
E = evaporation flux, (kg/min)/m of pool surface
B = pool liquid atmospheric boiling point, C
M = pool liquid molecular weight, dimensionless
e = the base of the natural logarithm system = 2.7183
vaporize immediately. This is known as "adiabatic flashing" and the following equation, derived from a simple heat balance, is used to predict how much
of the liquified gas is vaporized.
where:
X = weight percent vaporized
HsL = source liquid enthalpy at source temperature and pressure, J/kg
HaV = flashed vapor enthalpy at atmospheric boiling point and pressure, J/kg
HaL = residual liquid enthalpy at atmospheric boiling point and pressure, J/kg
If the enthalpy data required for the above equation is unavailable, then the following equation may be used.
where:
X = weight percent vaporized
cp = source liquid specific heat, J/(kg C)
See also
Choked flow
mhtml:file://C:\Users\Joe\Dropbox\JCA - Safety Solns\Haz Area Class\Course\Accidental release source terms - Wikip... 28/06/2013
Page 5 of 5
Orifice plate
Flash evaporation
References
1.
2.
^ a b c Handbook of Chemical Hazard Analysis Procedures, Appendix B, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Dept. of Transportation, and U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1989. Also provides the references below:
Clewell, H.J., A Simple Method For Estimating the Source Strength Of Spills Of Toxic Liquids, Energy Systems Laboratory, ESL-TR-83-03, 1983.
Ille, G. and Springer, C., The Evaporation And Dispersion Of Hydrazine Propellants From Ground Spill, Environmental Engineering Development Office,
3.
4.
^ a b "Risk Management Program Guidance For Offsite Consequence Analysis" U.S. EPA publication EPA-550-B-99-009, April 1999. (See derivations of
equations D-1 and D-7 in Appendix D)
^ "Methods For The Calculation Of Physical Effects Due To Releases Of Hazardous Substances (Liquids and Gases)", PGS2 CPR 14E, Chapter 2, The
Netherlands Organization Of Applied Scientific Research, The Hague, 2005. PGS2 CPR 14E
5.
^ CACHE Newsletter No.48, Spring 1999 Gierer, C. and Hyatt, N.,Using Source Term Analysis Software for Calculating Fluid Flow Release Rates Dyadem
6.
^ Ramskill, P.K. (1986), Discharge Rate Calculation Methods for Use In Plant Safety Assessments, Safety and Reliability Directory, United Kingdom Atomic
Energy Authority
7.
8.
International Ltd.
^ Stiver, W. and Mackay, D., A Spill Hazard Ranking System For Chemicals, Environment Canada First Technical Spills Seminar, Toronto, Canada, 1993.
External links
Ramskill's equations are presented and cited in this pdf file (use search function to find "Ramskill").
More release source terms are available in the feature articles at http://www.air-dispersion.com/
Choked flow of gases
Chemical engineering
mhtml:file://C:\Users\Joe\Dropbox\JCA - Safety Solns\Haz Area Class\Course\Accidental release source terms - Wikip... 28/06/2013