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Wind Tunnel Modeling of Accidentally-Released Gases Heavier Than Air

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Environmental Meteorology

Abstract

Large quantities of gases usually in liquified or pressurised form are being transported and stored to a steadily increasing extent. Many of these gases are either flammable or toxic or both. The handling of these gases is therefore associated with safety hazzards which have to be minimized. Most of these gases are heavier than air because of their molecular weight or due to the low temperature which they would take on in the event of an accidentally caused release. In consequence, the dispersion of them cannot be calculated by conventional techniques which were developed for neutral and buoyant gases.

The objective of this paper is to present the concept and some results of a wind-tunnel study investigating the initial dispersion of heavy gases. Comparisons with full-scale data will confirm that data obtained in wind-tunnel experiments can be transferred to scales of practical interest. The wind-tunnel results can be applied to many real-world problems and give a contribution towards the establishment of safety regulations for inflammable and toxic gases heavier than air.

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© 1988 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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König-Langlo, G., Schatzmann, M. (1988). Wind Tunnel Modeling of Accidentally-Released Gases Heavier Than Air. In: Grefen, K., Löbel, J. (eds) Environmental Meteorology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2939-5_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2939-5_19

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7823-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2939-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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