Numerical simulation on the leakage and diffusion of the natural gas of the underground pipeline in the soil

For the transportation pipeline with the diameter 1.219 m and the internal pressure 3-12 MPa, the leakage and diffusion of the natural gas of the pipeline in the soil was studied by numerical simulation. First, the finite model containing both pipeline and soil was established, and the porous media was used to simulate the real soil environment. And, the leakage amount of the natural gas was calculated at the cases with different porosities, the pressures inside the pipeline and the diameters of leakage port. Based on the classical theoretical leakage model of small hole in the air and simulation results analysis, the formula of the leakage amount was modified by the soil coefficient a to be suitable for soil environment. Then, the variation trends of the diffusion concentration of methane along different directions in the soil were analyzed by simulation, the influences of internal pressure of pipeline, the diameter of leakage and the porosity of soil were also discussed. Besides, the relationship of the safety distance with time was obtained.