Gexcon was awarded Subcontract 12121-6403-01 under the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America (RPSEA), whereby the objective of the project is to improve inherently safer offshore facility designs.
Project Summary
Gexcon US has partnered with SRI International to form a joint large-scale test site dedicated to determining what factors lead to the onset of DDTs and how to mitigate DDT events at practical scales found at petrochemical plants.
The large-scale testing was conducted in a test rig of 51,840 ft3 (1,459 m3 ) gross volume. The tests involved the evaluation of deflagrations and DDTs involving stoichiometric, lean and rich mixtures of ethylene, propane and methane. Further phases of the testing evaluated the effectiveness of other mitigation measures (e.g., water deluge, solid inhibitor) on the explosion consequences.
Project Objectives
- Perform large-scale experiments, similar to actual scales, to determine what factors initiate deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) and what measures can mitigate such events.
- Enhance validated tools used to predict and mitigate such events.
- Develop guidance documents and recommended practices for facility owners and designers in order to minimise the potential consequence of explosion incidents.
Our Role
With the use of FLACS, the industry-standard computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code for explosions, Gexcon looks to enhance current understanding and validate FLACS prediction of the onset of DDT and the effectiveness of active mitigation.
This will lead to improved facility design and improved implementation of inherent safety by reducing the likelihood of VCEs escalating to catastrophic events.
Conference Papers
Large Scale Testing Confirms Deflagration to Detonation Transition (DDT) Needs to be Considered in Facility Siting, 2017 Spring Meeting and 13th Global Congress on Process Safety
Large Scale Detonation Testing: New Findings in the prediction of DDTs at large scales, Nineteenth Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center Annual International Symposium
Large Scale Detonation Testing – RPSEA Project Award, Eighteenth Mary Kay O'Connor Process Safety Center Annual International Symposium
Journal Papers
Can gases behave like explosives: Large-scale deflagration to detonation testing, Journal of Fire Sciences, 35
Large scale detonation testing: New findings in the prediction of DDTs at large scales, Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries, 48: 345-357
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