Preventing sour gas hazards: terrain-aware buffer zoning via wind tunnel modeling

Abstract

Mitigating hydrogen sulfide dispersion from sour gas facilities is critical for achieving cleaner production in the energy sector. The high-pressure nature of these releases leads to highly complex dispersion processes. This study develops a novel wind tunnel experimental similarity model to accurately predict high-pressure gas dispersion. This method integrates jet dynamics and atmospheric boundary layer theory, significantly reducing costs compared to full-scale trials. The model was applied to investigate H₂S dispersion under two wind speeds and eight wind directions. Results show that the critical concentration (100 ppm) dispersion distances range from 136– 570 m (at 2 m/s) to 81–313 m (at 4 m/s), with a 3.9–4.2-fold variation across wind directions. Maximum concentrations differed by up to 9.1 times at 2 m/s and 4.8 times at 4 m/s. This variation occurred among different wind directions. This framework supports cleaner production and enables dynamic safety zoning. Compared to conventional fixed buffer zones, land occupancy in mountainous regions can be reduced by up to 88.4 % or increased by 16.6 %. This terrain-aware approach precisely identifies risks, prevents cascade failures, facilitates ISO 14001 certification, and provides a resource-efficient basis for balancing industrial safety with environmental protection.