LNG Safety Research: FEM3A Model Development

During this reporting period, kickoff and planning meetings were held. Subcontracted experimental and modeling tasks were defined. Efforts to address the numerical stability problems that hamper FEM3A's applicability to low wind speed, stable atmospheric conditions were initiated. A detailed review of FEM3A code and its execution, required for development of an accessible user interface, was also begun. A one-day workshop on LNG safety models has been scheduled for September 2004. The goals of this project are to develop a national focal point for LNG safety research and technical dissemination and to develop the FEM3A dispersion model for application to general scenarios involving dispersion problems with obstacle and terrain features of realistic complexity. During this reporting period, the objectives and scope of the project and its constituent tasks were discussed at a project kickoff meeting in Morgantown. Details of the subcontracted experimental and modeling tasks were further defined at a separate meeting at the University of Arkansas. Researchers at the university have begun to modify the turbulence closure model used in FEM3A to insure numerical stability during simulation of low-wind-speed, stable atmospheric conditions. The university's wind tunnel is being prepared for upcoming experimental studies. GTI has begun a detailed review of the FEM3A code and its execution that will provide guidance during development of an accessible user interface. Plans were made for a one day workshop on LNG safety models that will be held at the end of September and will provide an introduction to currently available and pending software tools