Numerical Simulation of Na-Tech Cascading Disasters in a Large Oil Depot

Shaobiao Zhang, Dayong Xu, Gansu Shen, Junguo Liu and Lili Yang
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Shaobiao Zhang: School of Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China
Dayong Xu: Shenzhen Urban Public Safety and Technology Institute, Shenzhen 518046, China
Gansu Shen: Shenzhen Urban Public Safety and Technology Institute, Shenzhen 518046, China
Junguo Liu: School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Lili Yang: Department of Statistics and Data Science, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: The mechanism of natural-hazard-triggered technological (Na-tech) cascading disasters is complex, and the extent to which their damage is aggravated by various secondary events is difficult to quantify. This study selected a large oil depot and constructed a full-scale three-dimensional scene model based on the surrounding geographical environment. The discrete element method (DEM), finite element method (FEM) and finite volume method (FVM) were employed to conduct numerical simulations of the process and consequences of the following Na-tech disasters: heavy-rainfall-induced landslide → blocks impacting an oil transportation pipeline and breaking it → oil leaking, spreading and resulting in a vapor cloud explosion. According to the results, the maximum impact of the 1 m 3 of sliding mass formed in the landslide on the pipeline was over 7 MN (meganewton), and the pipeline fractured completely when it was loaded with a contact force of only 1.44 MN. The numerical simulation methods revealed the mechanism of Na-tech cascading disasters in a large oil depot and quantified the consequences of each event in the cascading disasters.

Keywords: cascading disaster; numerical simulation; large oil depot; landslide; vapor cloud explosion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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