ADMS-Puff

Advanced software for dispersion modelling dense and passive releases in spatially varying meteorology

What is ADMS-Puff?

ADMS-Puff uses a Lagrangian puff methodology to model the fate of dense and passive gas releases. ADMS-Puff can use temporally and spatially varying meteorological data from the WRF model, or simple surface data. ADMS-Puff can also account for the impact of complex terrain: hills and variable surface roughness.

ADMS-Puff calculates snapshots of instantaneous air concentration along with a time integrated dose. These concentrations can be compared against regulatory or other levels, including inbuilt flammability limits.

ADMS-Puff has a link to Golden Software’s Surfer package for displaying contours of concentration overlaid on a map of the area where the incident occurred.

Who uses ADMS-Puff?

Operators and regulators concerned with determining the impact of dense gas releases.

Why use ADMS-Puff?

ADMS-Puff has a user-friendly Windows interface, making it easy to set up the model and view results. The input data are arranged in a series of screens with default values provided for much of the information. This makes the model ideal for rapid data entry and use by non-specialists, e.g. in emergency situations.

The system has the following features:

• advanced dense gas dispersion model in which the boundary layer structure is characterized by the height of the boundary layer and the Monin-Obukhov length, a length scale dependent on the friction velocity and the heat flux at the surface,
• choice of data entry formats for meteorology including spatially varying meteorology output from the WRF model,
• built-in list of materials along with all their material properties, including flammability limits,
• facility for easy comparison to regulatory levels. Contours showing where these levels are exceeded can be simply plotted over a map of the area using the link to Surfer.