English to French Tech/Engineering Ships, Sailing, Maritime LNG shipping risk

An unconfined spill of LNG onto water will spread and boil at a high rate. For a spill confined on calm water, there may be some ice formation, but for unconfined spills only small amounts of ice formation have been observed, due to the large heat source provided by the water and the turbulent interface. There is a high vaporization rate that is maintained due to contact with the water, which is at a much higher temperature. The high vaporization rate leads to a greater distance to the lower flammable limit (LFL) of the vapor cloud. The vapor formed is initially denser than the surrounding air because it has a lower temperature. The vapor cloud from unconfined spills can travel at roughly the wind speed before becoming buoyant and dispersing. The length of the vapor cloud will be greater than its width, because the wind will elongate the cloud. Vapor concentrations are highest near the spill and then gradually decrease to the lower flammability limit at the edge of the cloud