Software Supporting the Visualization of Hazardous Substance Emission Zones During a Fire at an Industrial Enterprise

• Published in: Fire (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 8; no. 7; p. 279
• Main Authors: Matveev, Yuri, Abu-Abed, Fares, Zhironkina, Olga, Zhironkin, Sergey
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.07.2025
• Subjects: Accidents; Accuracy; Air temperature; Ammonia; Automation; Chemical industry; Combustion; computer visualization; dangerous zone; Decision making; Emission; Emissions (Pollution); Environmental aspects; Evacuation; Evacuation of civilians; explosion; Explosions; Factories; fire; Fire prevention; Hazardous areas; Hazardous materials; Hazardous substances; human-made accident; Industrial plant emissions; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Methods; Polyvinyl chloride; Real time; Residential areas; Residential location; Russia; Safety and security measures; simulation modeling; Software; Toxic substances; Toxicity; Urban development; Visual programming languages; Visualization; Visualization (Computers); Wind speed; Russia
• DOI: 10.3390/fire8070279
• ISSN: 2571-6255

Mathematical modeling and computer visualization of hazardous zones of toxic substance cloud spread that occur during different accidents at industrial enterprises located near residential areas are in high demand to support the operational planning of evacuation measures and accident response. The possible chain-like nature of fires and explosions of containers with toxic substances inside increases the importance of predicting changes in hazardous zone parameters in real time. The objective of this study is to develop algorithms for the development of a mathematical model of a hazardous zone during an explosion and fire at an enterprise. The subject of this study is a software tool created for the visualization of hazardous substance emission zones in real time, superimposed onto a development map to determine potential damage to human health and for the operational planning of evacuation measures. The proposed model takes into account variables such as the air temperature, wind speed and direction, the mass of the substance at each explosion and fire site, etc. C# and Visual Studio 2022 languages and an SQL database were used to create a software tool for visualizing the hazardous area. The testing of the calculation model and software used for the visualization of the hazardous zones of toxic substance cloud spread are presented on the basis of explosion cases involving a railway tank containing ammonia and the combustion of polyvinyl chloride at a chemical industry enterprise. The results confirmed the operability of the software and the prospects of its use in regard to the mitigation of the consequences of human-made accidents.