Empirical Gas Explosion Models for Onshore Plant Structures: Review and Comparative Analysis

Abstract

In the onshore and offshore chemical industries, a gas explosion is a major accident in terms of damage scale and frequency. To prevent disastrous damages, the Task Committee on Design of Blast Resistant Buildings in Petrochemical Facilities of the ASCE suggested several empirical methods to determine gas explosion blast loads for the structural design of petrochemical facilities. However, the procedures for determining overpressure from gas explosion are not easy for practicing engineers to follow, due to the complexity of gas explosion mechanisms and numerous affecting factors. In addition, the blast loads are greatly influenced by the class or Mach number in the empirical methods, but high uncertainty exists in selecting a reasonable class or Mach number for preliminary design. In an effort to reduce the difficulty and ambiguity, this study provides a thorough review and comparative analysis of the empirical methods suggested by ASCE for determining overpressure from gas explosion. In addition, this paper presents a case study that demonstrates the determination of blast loads in accordance with the ASCE guidelines.