Explosion Simulations

Explosion risk is often a main risk contributor in the oil and gas industry. Understanding the potential explosion loads - and their associated probability of occurrence - is therefore a key success factor for improved financial results through effective risk management. Scandpower provides a wide range of services within explosion risk evaluations from coarse estimates based on engineering judgments to detailed CFD simulations using the latest version of the world leading explosion simulation tool FLACS.

Selecting the appropriate level of detail for an explosion evaluation may be depending on several factors such as the expected explosion risk contribution, the customer or regulatory requirements, and the phase of design for the instillation.

The life cycle cost of an installation may be significantly influenced by the level of accuracy used in the explosion analysis. Coarse explosion analyses are normally compensated with a high degree of conservatism. As a result the design accidental load (DAL) may be set unnecessary high and the additional construction costs do not necessarily lead to increased safety. The additional resources used on strengthening explosion barriers may have had more impact on the overall safety if used on other safety barriers. On the other hand, if the explosion loads are low, even when using a coarse analysis, then the need for a more detailed analysis may not be required since the structural members do not need additional strengthening to resist the explosion loads.

Scandpower offers both coarse and detailed explosion analyses. The coarse explosion evaluations are based on engineering judgments and empirical explosion models such as the Multi-Energy Method. From using an internally developed empirical software tool COSAC a coarse probabilistic pressure distribution curve is obtained. The probabilistic explosion curve can be used both to identifying DAL estimates and to give a consistent estimate of the risk contribution from explosions. COSAC is based on results from a large number of detailed explosion simulations performed for a variety of installation types.

The detailed explosion analysis that Scandpower offers is in agreement with the requirements from NORSOK Z-013, annex G. Scandpower was one of the first consultants to purchase a commercial license of FLACS, and has remained a leading user of the CFD tool. Scandpower's procedure for detailed probabilistic explosion analyses (ExploRAM) has been used in a large number of offshore and onshore installations over the last years and has been recognized in the industry as a state-of-the-art procedure for explosion risk analyses.

Scandpower offers detailed explosion analyses in our offices in Kjeller, Trondheim, Bergen, Houston and Bejing.