Simultaneous boiling and spreading of liquefied petroleum gas on water. Final report, December 12, 1978-March 31, 1981

Technical Report · Wed Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1981

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6580813· OSTI ID:6580813

Chang, H R; Reid, R C

An experimental and theoretical investigation was carried out to study the boiling and spreading of liquid nitrogen, liquid methane and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) on water in a one-dimensional configuration. Primary emphasis was placed on the LPG studies. Experimental work involved the design and construction of a spill/spread/boil apparatus which permitted the measurement of spreading and local boil-off rates. With the equations of continuity and momentum transfer, a mathematical model was developed to describe the boiling-spreading phenomena of cryogens spilled on water. The model accounted for a decrease in the density of the cryogenic liquid due to bubble formation. The boiling and spreading rates of LPG were found to be the same as those of pure propane. An LPG spill was characterized by the very rapid and violent boiling initially and highly irregular ice formation on the water surface. The measured local boil-off rates of LPG agreed reasonably well with theoretical predictions from a moving boundary heat transfer model. The spreading velocity of an LPG spill was found to be constant and determined by the size of the distributor opening. The maximum spreading distance was found to be unaffected by the spilling rate. These observations can be explained by assuming that the ice formation on the water surface controls the spreading of LPG spills. While the mathematical model did not predict the spreading front adequately, it predicted the maximum spreading distance reasonably well.

• Research Organization: Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge (USA). Dept. of Chemical Engineering
• DOE Contract Number: AS02-77EV04548
• OSTI ID: 6580813
• Report Number(s): DOE/EV/04548-1
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020900* -- Petroleum-- Environmental Aspects
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
520200 -- Environment
Aquatic-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ALKANES
BOILING
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
CRYOGENIC FLUIDS
DESIGN
DIFFUSION
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FLUIDS
GAS SPILLS
HYDROCARBONS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
ICE
LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GASES
LIQUIDS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
METHANE
NATURAL GAS LIQUIDS
NITROGEN
NONMETALS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM PRODUCTS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
WATER