Fluid curtains

The main objective of a fluid curtain is to help mitigate explosions by absorbing energy as droplets break up and by creating an increased total surface area to reduce potential flammable and toxic hazard zones by dilution with air or by chemical reaction with the water or reactive materials contained in the curtain. 

Dilution is attributed to the large amounts of air that are entrained by the spray. As a result of air entrainment, dispersion behavior is altered for materials that exhibit negative buoyancy upon release. This is found to be effective in controlling flammability hazards that are located close to the release source. If an explosion does occur, some of the energy will be absorbed in the breakup of the water spray droplets, thereby mitigating the explosions impact. 

Hazard-zone reduction can also be achieved by reducing the source emission strength using mass transfer, that is, chemical reaction and/or absorption. While dilution is effective in reducing near-field hazards, reducing source strength can be effective in reducing far-field hazards caused by toxic materials. 

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This chapter covers the use of fluid curtains of water, steam, and air to mitigate the effects of a release. 

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