High-pressure methane jet: Analysis of the jet-obstacle interaction

The study of unplanned high-pressure gas releases is of paramount importance in the industrial safety framework because of the possible large consequences, both in case of flammable and toxic substances leakage. In addition, if an obstacle is involved in the release, it is known that the main effect on the jet behavior is the enhancement of the risk area. Pointing out the importance to consider the obstacle presence, among the various available numerical approaches, the sole reliable tool able to correctly model the scenario of a jet interacting with an obstacle seems to be the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This work lies in the context outlined through the examination of a realistic unignited high-pressure methane jet interacting with a realistic obstacle placed along its axis via CFD simulations: a stationary 65-bara unignited methane jet outflowing from a one-inch diameter hole and a medium size horizontal cylindrical tank are the building blocks of the realistic scenario. The aim is to deeply investigate how the distance between obstacle and jet orifice modifies the jet behavior. In particular, the final purposes are: i) to establish when the obstacle most influences the jet cloud extent and, ii) to assess when the obstacle influence expires. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis on the obstacle shape and size is conducted for comparison purposes.