THE BUILDUP OF CONCENTRATION WITHIN A SINGLE ENCLOSED VOLUME FOLLOWING A RELEASE OF NATURAL-GAS

This paper presents results from small-scale and full-scale experiments carried out to study the mixing process and build-up of gas concentration occurring within a nominally unventilated enclosure as a result of a release of natural gas. The results are correlated in terms of dimensionless parameters and it is shown how this may be used in a simple mathematical model to predict the build-up of natural gas for a wide range of release conditions. By taking into account relative density effects, the model may also be used for predicting gas build-up following releases of other gases, such as propane.