• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.42-50
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• 2015

Three simulation approaches for turbulence were applied for the computation of propane dispersion in a simplified real-scale urban area with one building:, Large Eddy Simulation (LES), Detached Eddy Simulation (DES), and Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS). The computations were performed using FLUENT 14, and the grid system was made with ICEM-CFD. The propane distribution depended on the prediction performance of the three simulation approaches for the eddy structure around the building. LES and DES showed relatively similar results for the eddy structure and propane distribution, while the RANS prediction of the propane distribution was unrealistic. RANS was found to be inappropriate for computation of the gas dispersion process due to poor prediction performance for the unsteady turbulence. Considering the computational results and cost, DES is believed to be the optimal choice for computation of the gas dispersion in a real-scale space.