Title: The Center for the Simulation of Accidental Fires and Explosions CSAFE The University of Utah
1The Center for the Simulation of Accidental Fires
and Explosions (C-SAFE)The University of Utah
2Radiative and Convective Heat Flux Validation
- Validation of the total radiant and convective
heat flux at the surface of a 0.3 m diameter
heptane pool fire. Simulations performed using
the C-SAFE Uintah code at two different spatial
resolutions are in good agreement with
experimental data.
3Comparison of Simulated vs
Measured Gas Velocities
- Time-averaged vertical gas velocities for a 1m
diameter methane fire are compared to
experimental measurements performed at Sandia
National Laboratory using two different Uintah
fire codes. Agreement is even better for the
compressible CFD code (ICE) than for the
incompressible CFD formulation (Arches).
4Gas Flare Simulation
- Industrial flares are used to vent and burn waste
gases from oil and gas drilling and refining
operations. These simulations are some of the
first in the world to show the time-dependent
characteristics of such flows and to accurately
model the changes that occur in the flow as a
result of wind conditions. The gas flare burner
industry has now recognized that
Reynolds-averaged numerical simulation (RANS)
approaches are not satisfactory for predicting
the properties of flare operations (e.g., soot
generation), and that full Large Eddy Simulations
(LES) such as the C-SAFE Uintah code can provide
are required.
5Container Explosions
Solid Explosive
These simulations of an exploding container were
performed in order to demonstrate the difference
in explosion when a hollow bore region is left in
the center of the explosive, as compared to a
container enclosing a solid explosive. As
validated by actual experiments at the ATK
Thiokol test facility, the explosion from the
container enclosing the explosive with the hollow
bore is much more violent.
6Helium Plume
- Our simulations have shown the presence of
Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities and the large
vortical structures they generate, an observation
also made in helium plume experiments conducted
at the Sandia-Albuquerque FLAME facility. These
instabilities, also called bubbles and spikes,
result when a heave layer (air) sits over a light
layer (helium) and lead to strong mixing. We
have used the results of these simulations to
better understand how vorticity is generated and
to validate the accuracy of our CFD code.
Density
Vorticity
7End to End Simulation
- C-SAFE has a comprehensive verification and
validation plan in place to validate its end to
end fire/container simulation.