(72a) Using OpenFOAM for Modeling Vapor Cloud Explosions In the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry

As computing power and storage have become more affordable over the years, it has been possible to use more sophisticated models to calculate the effects of hazardous releases in the chemical and petrochemical industries.  Until recently,  modelers generally had to use either simple, analytic models that were written by others and were virtual "black boxes" or write their own software to implement the numerical methods necessary to solve the equations that defined the model.  With the release of the free, open source CFD Toolkit, OpenFOAM,  modelers now have a powerful tool, that enables them to model a wide range of situations and complex interactions that were too expensive and time-consuming to model in the past.   In this paper, we discuss how Quest is using the OpenFOAM toolkit to model vapor cloud explosions in industrial settings and compare the results of our validation studies with experiments published in the open literature.