Fundamental analysis of scaling strategies for fuel leak prevention technology

多达70%的家庭取暖油泄漏不是由于油箱故障，而是由于线路故障。作为一项环境保护措施，LORAX Systems Inc.开发了它的LineGuardian技术，即使在针孔泄漏的情况下，也能自动停止住宅油箱的流量。自那时以来，检测和应对这种规模的泄漏的能力引起了石油和天然气运输部门和保险公司的极大兴趣，因为它有可能减轻环境敏感地区的风险，并减少泄漏事件的财务影响。通过达尔豪西大学NRC-IRAP代金券计划的初步互动，确定LORAX当前设计需要对冲击波传播、流体流动、动态泄漏响应和循环可靠性进行更严格的分析和理解。具体而言，从数值和实验的角度对系统动力学的尺度效应进行分析，对于更好地描述其现有技术并确定其提供技术和竞争优势的新兴应用特别有意义。这项工作将集中在此时提出的三个重要问题：1）在新应用中改变系统内的流体将如何影响当前设计的操作可靠性; 2）现有技术的显著缩放将如何影响系统内冲击波传播的响应率;以及3）什么是扩展这种方法的最技术和经济可行的策略。为了回答这些问题，该项目将设计和运行一个实验测试平台，用于评估LORAX现有技术的可扩展性，同时对其系统内的冲击波传播进行基础和基于CFD的分析，以表征缩放对内部流动剖面的影响。实验和计算部分将是互补的，并用于验证该技术操作背后的物理原理。

Up to 70 per cent of home heating oil spills do not result from tank failure, but from line failure. As an environmental protection measure, LORAX Systems Inc. developed it's LineGuardian technology to automatically stop flow from a residential oil tank in the event of even a pin-hole leak. The ability to detect and respond to leaks of this scale has since garnered significant interest from both the oil and gas transport sector and insurance companies due to the potential for risk mitigation in environmentally sensitive areas and reduced financial impact of release events. Through a preliminary interaction via the NRC-IRAP voucher program at Dalhousie University, the need for a more rigorous analysis and understanding of shockwave propagation, fluid flow, dynamic leak response, and cycling reliability was identified for LORAX's current design. Specifically, the analysis of scaling effects on system dynamics from both a numerical and experimental perspective is of particular interest to better characterize their existing technology and identify emerging applications for which they offer a technological and competitive advantage. This work will focus on three significant questions posed at this time: 1) how would changing the fluids within the system in new applications affect the operational reliability of the current design; 2) How will significant scaling of the existing technology affect the response rates to shockwave propagations within the system; and 3) what is the most technical and economically feasible strategy to scale this approach. To answer these questions, this project will design and operate an experimental test platform for assessing the scalability of LORAX's existing technology, while performing fundamental and CFD-based analysis of shockwave propagation within their system to characterization of the effects of scaling on internal flow profiles within the context of application-specific configurations. The experimental and computational components will be complementary, and used to validated the physical principles behind this technology's operation.