Critical Issues in Short-cut Modelling of Massive Carbon Dioxide Releases

In case of accidental gaseous releases, the detailed analysis of rather complicated situations (partial confinement, irregular shapes, unsteady-state) usually requires the use of sophisticated integral models and/or CFD calculations, but when conservative results are enough, especially in preliminary hazard assessment, analytical models can be conveniently applied. This paper presents a very simple analytical model accounting also for wind effect on accidental release evolution, suitable to be adopted as short-cut evaluation tool in case of accidental carbon dioxide semi-continuous release at high speed (jet), and nearly instantaneous releases from high-pressure systems. It may allow a preliminary evaluation of emergency actions, in case of a massive and deadly release of carbon dioxide from a storage site, or due to natural event, once properly defined the source term and refined for possible thermal effects.