A key component of risk reduction is reducing the potential consequences
that could result from toxic or flammable releases. The science of vapor
cloud dispersion has advanced significantly in recent years, but one of
the long-standing challenges has been in accounting for dispersion
around buildings, equipment, and similarly sized geologic and man-made
features. With current concerns about terrorism in industrial and urban
sites, improving consequence modeling within industrial and urban sites
is more important than ever This new definitive book advances the
science of vapor cloud dispersion by: -Describing how structures at an
urban or industrial site affect dispersion, and how these effects should
be treated in consequence models -Explaining surface roughness length
(z0) and displacement length (d) so that they are clarified for readers
with minimal meteorological background -Presenting criteria for when the
structures should be considered broadly as roughness elements, or when
they should be considered from the viewpoint of their wake effects
-Defining conditions for which different models apply and providing
continuous solutions for transitions between flow regimes. -Providing
the appropriate roughness inputs to transport and dispersion models
depending on conditions. -Demonstrating the application of these
techniques through worked examples.