BREAKING NEWS: PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME AVAILABLE FOR NEXT 2-DAY TECHNICAL MEETING TO BE HELD ON 23 & 24 OCT 2024 - PLEASE SEE EVENTS SECTION

HSE RR1001

Flammable mists from accidental hydrocarbon releases offshore

FABIG Members: Log-in to access all FABIG resources

SUMMARY

The report investigates offshore hydrocarbon releases in an attempt to identify whether mists of hydrocarbon droplets were formed, and if these presented a flammability hazard. Scientific literature has been searched for the present state of knowledge of the physics of two-phase mist generation. An empirical correlation has been used to model the reported hydrocarbon releases for a five year period and estimate whether flammable mists could have been generated.

It was found that ninety-five percent of reported liquid releases (forty-five percent of total reported releases) could have formed flammable mists. It was also noted that there were thirty-five cases of high flash point diesel and machine oils igniting as flash fires in five years.

Having established that flammable mists are being generated, the state of computational modelling and its validity has been reviewed to identify whether industry is able to characterise this risk in order to enact measures to control it. This found that computer programs existed to model both mechanical and flashing mist generation although the ability of these programs to model subsequent dispersion and rainout was limited. Validation studies of jet breakup are continuing but are focused on characterisation of single component flashing releases, not mechanical breakup of multiple component mixtures.

This Research Report and the work it describes were funded by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Its contents, including any opinions and/or conclusions expressed, are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect HSE policy.

Publisher: HSE
Published in: 2014

Corporate Membership

Joining FABIG provides access to a wealth of technical resources as well as excellent training opportunities, and ensures that your organisation is kept abreast of the latest developments in fire and explosion engineering. FABIG also provides a forum for discussing technical issues with industry peers via participation in the FABIG activities, therefore creating invaluable networking opportunities. Become a Member Request a Membership Quote

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION? TO GET IN TOUCH PLEASE

Click here

KEEP UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LATEST FABIG NEWS AND EVENTS

Subscribe