• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2021

Vapor cloud explosions show different characteristics from that caused by ordinary TNT explosives and their loading effect is similar to pressure waves. Typical methods used for blast pressure calculations are the TNT-equivalent method and multi-energy method. The TNT-equivalent method is based on shock waves, similar to a detonation phenomenon, and multi-energy method is based on pressure waves, similar to a deflagration phenomenon. This study was conducted to derive an appropriate blast pressure by applying various plant explosion cases. SDOF analysis and nonlinear dynamic analysis were performed to compare the degree of deformation and damage of the selected structural members for the explosion cases. The results indicated that the multi-energy method was more exact than the TNT-equivalent method in predicting the blast pressure of vapor cloud explosions. The blast pressure of vapor cloud explosion in plants can be more accurately calculated by assuming the charge strength of multi-energy method as 7 or 8.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.1-13
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• 2015

Accidents related to gas explosion are frequently happened in foreign countries and in Korea. For the evaluation and the analysis of gas explosions, TNT equivalent methods are used. In this study, the influence of the selection of chemical equation in TNT explosion and the selection of enthalpy of the products on the explosion energy, detonation pressure, velocity of detonation, and temperature was calculated. Depending on the chemical equations, the maximum detonation pressure can be 2 times higher than the minimum. As an example for applying TNT equivalent method, an explosion of methane gas in a confined volume was assumed. With the TNT equivalent, it was possible to predict the variation of peak overpressure and impulse with the distance from the explosion location.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.26-34
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• 2018

Explosions of vapor cloud formed due to the leakage from installations with flammable fuels have often occurred in Korea and foreign countries. In this study, TNT equivalency method and Multi-Energy method for vapor cloud explosion blast modelling are described and demonstrated in a case study. As TNT equivalency method is simple and direct, it has been widely used for modelling a vapor cloud explosion blast. But TNT equivalency method found to be difficult to select a proper correlation between the amount of combustion energy produced from the vapor cloud explosion and the equivalent amount of TNT to model its blast effects. Multi-Energy method assumes that the strength of vapor cloud explosion blast depends on the layout of the space where the vapor cloud is spreading. Strictly speaking, the explosive potential of a vapor cloud is dependent upon the density of the obstructed regions. In this study, Flixborough accident are analyzed as a case study to assess the applicability of TNT equivalency method and Multi-Energy method. TNT equivalency method and Multi-Energy method found to be applicable if coefficient of TNT equivalency and coefficient of strength of explosion blast are selected properly.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.355-362
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• 2021

Various blast pressure calculation methods have been developed for predicting the explosion pressure of vapor cloud explosions. Empirical methods include the TNT equivalent method, and multi-energy method. The multi-energy method uses a charge strength that considers environmental factors. Although the Kinsella guideline was provided to determine the charge strength, there are limitations such as guidelines related to ignition sources. In this study, we proposed an improved charge strength guideline, by subdividing the ignition source intensity and expanding the type classification through literature analysis. To verify the improved charge strength guideline, and to compare it with the result obtained using the Kinsella guideline, four vapor cloud explosion cases which could be used to estimate the actual blast pressure were investigated. As a result, it was confirmed that the Kinsella guidelines showed an inaccurate, that is, wider pressure than the actual estimated blast pressure. However, the improved charge strength guideline enabled the selection of the intensity of the ignition source, and more subdivided types through the expansion of classification, hence it was possible to calculate the blast pressure relatively close to that of the actual case.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.27-34
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• 2022

The government is promoting various policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for carbon neutrality, one of the key tasks is to revitalize the hydrogen economy. As one of these policies the government has formulated a plan to incorporate hydrogen into existing city gas pipes, and aims to commercialize 20% hydrogen mixing by 2026. In preparation for the commercialization of city gas and hydrogen mixture, this study quantitatively predicts the scale of damage and the range of impact in the event of leakage of these two gas mixtures. The quantitative damage prediction method is to calculate the damage conversion distance through the calculation of the TNT equivalent by setting the leakage amount of the gas mixture in the event of an accident under a virtual scenario.