Abstract: The accident impact range at shallow shale gas well sites differs from that of conventional gas wells. Focusing on three accident scenarios likely to occur at shallow shale gas well sites, this paper conducts simulations of wellhead leakage, pool fire blowout and storage tank leakage using DNV GL PHAST 8.22. It investigates the variation laws of thermal radiation and shock waves induced by different leakage conditions under various wind speeds and obtains the accident impact range under different working conditions. Meanwhile, critical damage values for structures, facilities and equipment, and the environment are analyzed. Combined with the impact range of worst-case accident consequences, the safety distance for shallow shale gas well sites is determined.

Key words: shallow shale gas well, numerical simulation, thermal radiation, critical damage value, safety distance