Thermal Hazard from LNG Fireballs

Abstract

Accidents with many hydrocarbon materials such as propane, butane and gasoline frequently result in the formation of fireballs. The shipment of liquified natural gas (LNG) involves large quantities of fuel which, in the event of an accident, could ignite to form a fireball. Depending on atmospheric conditions, the thermal effects from such a fireball could produce third degree skin burns and start fires out to distances of several kilometers. A simple fireball model is presented here which describes the potential thermal hazard. Some experimental results for small quantities of fuel which form optically thin fireballs are also presented. The question of scaling is considered and it is concluded that for the investigation of optically thick fireballs involving extremely large quantities of LNG, meaningful tests can be run with 100 to 10,000 kg of fuel.