One of the primary hazards on any hydrocarbon-centric facility is an ignited release of flammable hydrocarbons following an inadvertent loss of containment or non-routine activity. In the presence of sufficient levels of confinement and congestion, such ignited events would lead to explosions capable of causing multiple fatalities, substantial degree of asset damage and unavailability of critical safety systems. Hence understanding the consequences of explosions (typically expressed in the form of explosive overpressure) as well as identification of explosion ‘hotspots’ are key for any such facility. This allows the facility to provide targeted explosion mitigation measures to reduce the effects of explosions.
