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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

FEM3 phase change model

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6030759
The previous version of the FEM3 model (Chan, 1983), when applied to problems in the atmosphere such as the simulation of vapor dispersion resulting from liquefied natural gas (LNG) spills, assumed that the atmosphere was dry and thus ignored any processes associated with water. However, movies of LNG spills show a cloud of condensed water near the spill point. This cloud occurs because the ambient air is never perfectly dry but rather contains water vapor, most of which condenses when it mixes with the very cold (-162/sup 0/C) LNG vapor. Thus, for spills involving cryogenic gas and high humidity, the presence of water may be significant and should be included in the computer model. This report describes the steps taken to incorporate the effects of water into the FEM3 model. First a brief review of the theory of moist systems is presented. Next, two different methods of modeling the moist system are proposed and compared. Finally, the moist system model that has been incorporated into FEM3 is described.
Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
W-7405-ENG-48
OSTI ID:
6030759
Report Number(s):
UCID-20353; ON: DE85008032
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English