Mustafa Serhat EKİNCİ, Abdurrahman AKMAN

The Effect of Storage Temperature on Threat Zone Caused by an Ammonia Release from a Storage Tank

In this study, the threat zone that may occur as a result of an accidental release of an-hydrous ammonia, a flammable and highly toxic substance (Flammability:1, Health:3, NFPA 704), which has many uses, was investigated. A fire can be prevented by taking precautions such as not keeping ignition sources in the environment as a result of the ac-cidental release of ammonia gas. However, although its ignition is prevented, it can cause harm to humans and the environment due to its highly toxic nature. Therefore, the toxicity of ammonia was taken into account in this study. A common type of storage of anhydrous ammonia is in a horizontal cylindrical tank at ambient temperature and its vapor pres-sure. Therefore, in this type of storage, storage is carried out at different temperatures in different seasons. This study aims to examine the effect of storage temperature on the size of the threat zone, taking into account the knowledge that the storage temperature will change in seasonal conditions. Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmosphere (ALOHA) and DOW’s Chemical Exposure Index (DOW CEI) methods were used to determine the size of the threat zone, and the results obtained from these two methods were compared. The advantages and disadvantages of the two methods were presented. It is thought that this study will guide the relevant people such as operators who use these methods in calculating the hazard distances in the establishments that store ammonia and will provide awareness that the storage temperature affects the size of the threat zone.

Keywords:

ammonia, ALOHA DOW CEI, threat zone,

PDF

___

[1] Lees F. Lees’ Loss Prevention in the Process Industries: Hazard Identification, Assessment and Control, third ed. Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 2004.
[2] pubs.er.usgs.gov [Internet]. The United States Geological Survey (USGS); [cited 2022 February 04]. Available from: https://pubs.usgs. gov/periodicals/mcs2020/mcs2020-nitrogen.pdf
[3] Boppana VR, Sreenivasulu B, Mangalam MM. Model on-site emergency plan. Case study: toxic gas release from an ammonia storage terminal. Journal of Loss Prevention in Process Industries 9 (1996) 259-265.
[4] Major accident reporting system (eMARS) [Internet]. Brussels: Joint Research Centre (JRC). 2018- [cited 2022 May 20]. Available from: https://emars.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
[5] Mall ID, Srivastava VC, Sahu AK, Singh B. Safety and Hazards In Ammonia Handling, Storage and Transportation, in: Chaturvedi P, (Edt.). Challenges of Occupational Safety and Health Thrust: Safety in Transportation. Concept Publishing Company, New Delhi, pp.77-88, 2006.
[6] Fecke M, Garner S, Cox B. Review of global regulations for anhydrous ammonia production, use, and storage. Hazard 26 Symposium Series. 2016; No:161.
[7] Bahareh I, Berrin T. Explosion impacts during transport of hazardous cargo: GIS-based characterization of overpressure impacts and delineation of flammable zones for ammonia. J. Environ. Manag 156 (2015) 1-9.
[8] energy.gov [Internet]. United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE); [cited 2022 February 04]. Office of Environment Safety and Health, ALOHA computer code application guidance for documented safety analysis final report. Available from:https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/09/f2/Final_ALOHA_ Guidance_Reportv52404.pdf (accessed).
[9] Anjana NS, Amarnath A, Harindranathan Nair MV. Toxic hazards of ammonia release and population vulnerability assessment using geographical information system. Journal of Environmental Management 210 (2018) 201-209.
[10] American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Dow’s Chemical Exposure Index Guide. American Institute of Chemical Engineers Publications, New York, 1994.
[11] Rahman SMT, Salim MT, Syeda SR. Facility layout optimization of on ammonia plant based on risk and economic analysis. Proceedia Engineering 90 (2014) 760-765.
[12] Prasun KR, Arti B, Bimal K, Sarvjeet K, et al. Consequence and risk assessment: case study of an ammonia storage facility. Arch. Environ. Sci 5 (2011) 25-36.
[13] Lucyna B. Computer simulation of impacts of a chlorine tanker truck accident. Transport. Res. Part D 4 (2016) 107-122.
[14] Praveen P, Nagendra S. Hazard evaluation using ALOHA tools in storage area of an oil refinery. Int. J. Renew. Energy Technol 4 (2015) 203-209.
[15] Orozco L, Van Caneghem J, Hens L, et al. Assessment of an ammonia incident in the industrial area of Matanzas. Journal of Cleaner Production 222 (2019) 934-941.
[16] Jabbari M, Atabi F, Ghorbani R. Key airborne concentrations of chemicals for emergency response planning in HAZMAT road transportation- margin of safety or survival. Journal of Loss Prevention in the Process Industries 65 (2020) 104139.
[17] Tseng JM, Su, TS, Kuo CY. Consequence evaluation of toxic chemical releases by ALOHA. Procedia Engineering 45 (2012) 384-389.
[18] Cheraghi M, Bagherian-Sahlavani A, Noori H, et al. Evaluation of hazard distances related to toxic releases in a gas refinery: comparison of chemical exposure index and consequence modeling approaches. International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics 8 (2019) 1-13.
[19] Kim MU, Byeon SH. Use and limitations of offsite consequence analysis tools from south korea and the united states in hydrogen fluoride accidental release. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management 14 (2017) 205-211.
[20] National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ALOHA Software 5.4.7.
[21] DIPPR 801 Database [Internet]. The Design Institute for Physical Properties (DIPPR). [cited 2022 February 04]. Available from: https://www.aiche.org/dippr/events-products/801-database
[22] CAMEO Chemicals. [Internet]. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). [cited 2022 February 04]. Available from: https://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/4860
[23] Çetinyokuş S. Determination of explosion, fire and toxic emission physical effect areas. Pamukkale University Journal of Engineering Sciences 23 (2017) 845-853.