PUBLICATIONS AND VIDEOS

SUMMARY

The CostFX project has the objective of reducing the cost of designing pipework and vessels to resist explosions. A major part of this is simplifying the process of estimating drag loads produced in explosion accident scenarios and reducing current conservatism in the way drag loads are applied to piping systems in the design process. CostFX aims to advance knowledge of explosion and drag load dynamics, both spatially and temporally, and the response of realistic pipework and equipment. Increased knowledge can be used to avoid conservative assumptions taken in the process industry which result in unnecessary over-dimensioning.

Phase I of the project focused on building a knowledge base on the simulation of drag load and structural response using data from large-scale experiments. In Phase II, this will be extended to take a holistic view of the design process to simplify design methods and reduce conservatism. Phase II will include the effects of hydrogen and inhomogeneous clouds and will be using the validated models from Phase I and additional large scale experiments and realistic CFD models. With the emerging hydrogen economy, where scaling up sizes and numbers of hydrogen plants is a key element, the CostFX project can be essential to provide first the applied loading from hydrogen gas cloud explosions and second, use it to provide the right dimensioning procedures and guidelines.

New knowledge of dispersion and explosions will be obtained for both natural gas and hydrogen where it will build on the fundamentals that have been established for natural gas over the years and extended during Phase I of CostFX. It will be taken further to understand the more extreme hydrogen explosion dynamics in a consistent manner. The primary output from Phase II will be updated design methods and guidance.

This webinar provides an overview of CostFX Phase I, which was successfully concluded in 2020, together with plans for the next phase. This webinar comprises two parts as follows:

• Project overview and experiments - Mike Johnson, DNV GL
• Analysis and modelling - Asmund Huser, DNV GL