2. Assessment of the thermal effects of a BLEVE

2.1 Existing approaches

In the case of a BLEVE involving a flammable product, the fireball can be the physical phenomenon generating the greatest effect distances. It can be fuelled by extremely large masses of product (the largest tanks of liquefied gas can contain several thousand tonnes), resulting in radiation long and intense enough to burn people and trigger secondary fires. That's why it's vital to assess the effects as accurately as possible.

This section presents the three types of existing approaches:

• the empirical approach;

• the phenomenological approach ;

• regulatory approach.

It should be noted that...