Heavy gases released in accidents

The book discusses in great detail the dispersion of heavy gases released from an industrial installation in an accident. This dispersion is a highly non-stationary flow process subject to strong interactions with the dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer and the technical structures in the environment of the source. The atmospheric boundary layer is characterised by laminar and turbulent flow. The resulting turbulence spectrum leads to a distinct skaling dependence of the interaction between heavy gas flow and atmospheric dynamics. It is necessary to consider the impact of technical conditions and structures in order to assess the dimensions of heavy gas clouds released, and their behaviour. A large number of recent results obtained from the HSE Thorney Island experiments is presented. These experiments are the most extensive and best documented heavy gas experiments with a neutral heavy gas. For the first time, investigations of the turbulent structure of a flowing heavy gas have been made in this experimental series, studying the internally developed turbulence spectrum and that coming in from outside. (orig./KW)