A new set of blast curves from vapor cloud explosion

Pareto frontier analyses based decision making tool for transportation of hazardous waste

Transportation of hazardous wastes through a region poses immense threat on the development along its road network. The risk to the population, exposed to such activities, has been documented in the past. However, a comprehensive framework for routing hazardous wastes has often been overlooked. A regional Hazardous Waste Management scheme should incorporate a comprehensive framework for hazardous waste transportation. This framework would incorporate the various stakeholders involved in decision making. Hence, a multi-objective approach is required to safeguard the interest of all the concerned stakeholders. The objective of this study is to design a methodology for routing of hazardous wastes between the generating units and the disposal facilities through a capacity constrained network. The proposed methodology uses posteriori method with multi-objective approach to find non-dominated solutions for the system consisting of multiple origins and destinations. A case study of transportation of hazardous wastes in Kolkata Metropolitan Area has also been provided to elucidate the methodology.

A comprehensive risk assessment framework for offsite transportation of inflammable hazardous waste

A framework for risk assessment due to offsite transportation of hazardous wastes is designed based on the type of event that can be triggered from an accident of a hazardous waste carrier. The objective of this study is to design a framework for computing the risk to population associated with offsite transportation of inflammable and volatile wastes. The framework is based on traditional definition of risk and is designed for conditions where accident databases are not available. The probability based variable in risk assessment framework is substituted by a composite accident index proposed in this study. The framework computes the impacts due to a volatile cloud explosion based on TNO Multi-energy model. The methodology also estimates the vulnerable population in terms of disability adjusted life years (DALY) which takes into consideration the demographic profile of the population and the degree of injury on mortality and morbidity sustained. The methodology is illustrated using a case study of a pharmaceutical industry in the Kolkata metropolitan area.

The development of an inherent safety approach to the prevention of domino accidents

The severity of industrial accidents in which a domino effect takes place is well known in the chemical and process industry. The application of an inherent safety approach for the prevention of escalation events leading to domino accidents was explored in the present study. Reference primary scenarios were analyzed and escalation vectors were defined. Inherent safety distances were defined and proposed as a metric to express the intensity of the escalation vectors. Simple rules of thumb were presented for a preliminary screening of these distances. Swift reference indices for layout screening with respect to escalation hazard were also defined. Two case studies derived from existing layouts of oil refineries were selected to understand the potentialities coming from the application in the methodology. The results evidenced that the approach allows a first comparative assessment of the actual domino hazard in a layout, and the identification of critical primary units with respect to escalation events. The methodology developed also represents a useful screening tool to identify were to dedicate major efforts in the design of add-on measures, optimizing conventional passive and active measures for the prevention of severe domino accidents.

Consequence analysis to determine damage to buildings from vapour cloud explosions using characteristic curves

The objective of this paper is to propose a methodology to estimate the consequences to buildings from the pressure wave caused by unconfined vapour cloud explosions (VCEs). This methodology is based on the use of characteristic overpressure-impulse-distance curves, shown in a previous paper [F. Diaz Alonso, E. Gonzalez Ferradas, J.F. Sanchez Perez, A. Miñana Aznar, J. Ruiz Gimeno, J. Martinez Alonso, Characteristic overpressure-impulse-distance curves for vapour cloud, explosions using the TNO Multi-Energy model, J. Hazard. Mater. A137 (2006) 734-741]. They allow the overpressure and impulse at each distance from the explosion to be determined. Since they can be combined with damage criteria (such as those shown by the PROBIT equations), they can be used to perform consequence analysis as the damage is shown in the same diagram as the overpressure, impulse and distance. Since damages suffered by buildings usually affect people inside, it is important to take them into account when performing consequence analysis. This is done in this paper, where diagrams and equations are presented to determine minor damage to buildings (broken windows, displacement of doors and window frames, tile displacement, etc.), major structural damage (cracks in walls, collapse of some walls) and collapse (the damage is so extensive that the building is partially or totally demolished). This paper completes the consequence analysis to humans outdoors shown by F.D. Alonso et al. [F. Diaz Alonso, E. Gonzalez Ferradas, T. Jimenez Sanchez, A. Miñana Aznar, J. Ruiz Gimeno, J. Martinez Alonso, Consequence analysis to determine the damage to humans from vapour cloud explosions using characteristic curves, J. Hazard. Mater., in press].

Consequence analysis to determine the damage to humans from vapour cloud explosions using characteristic curves

The aim of this paper is to provide a methodology to facilitate consequence analysis for vapour cloud explosions (VCE). Firstly, the main PROBIT equations to evaluate direct damage on humans from those accidents (eardrum rupture, death due to skull fracture, death due to whole body impact and lung damage) are discussed and the most suitable ones are selected. Secondly, a new methodology is developed to relate characteristic overpressure-impulse-distance curves for VCE, obtained in a previous paper (F. Diaz Alonso et al., Characteristic overpressure-impulse-distance curves for vapour cloud explosions using the TNO Multi-Energy model, J. Hazard. Mater. A137 (2006) 734-741) with the selected PROBIT equations. This methodology allows the determination of damage as a function of distance to the accident's origin in only one step, using explosion energy and VCE Multi-Energy charge strength as input parameters.

Total flammable mass and volume within a vapor cloud produced by a continuous fuel-gas or volatile liquid-fuel release

The top-hat jet/plume model has recently been employed to obtain simple closed-form expressions for the mass of fuel in the flammable region of a vapor "cloud" produced by an axisymmetric (round) continuous-turbulent jet having positive or negative buoyancy [1]. The fuel release may be a gas or a volatile liquid. In this paper, the top-hat analysis is extended to obtain closed-form approximate expressions for the total mass (fuel+entrained air) and volume of the flammable region of a release cloud produced by either a round or a plane (two-dimensional) buoyant jet. These expressions lead to predicted average fuel concentrations in the flammable regions of the release clouds which, when compared with the stoichiometric concentration, serve as indicators of the potential severity of release cloud explosions. For a fixed release mass, the combustion overpressure following ignition of a hydrogen/air cloud is anticipated to be significantly lower than that due to ignition of a hydrocarbon/air cloud. The predicted average hydrogen concentration within the flammable region of the release cloud is below the lower detonability limit. The facility with which the expressions can be used for predictions of combustion overpressures is illustrated for propane releases and deflagrations in a closed compartment.

Prevention of domino effect: from active and passive strategies to inherently safer design

The possible application of an inherent safety approach to the prevention of domino accidents was explored. The application of the inherent safety guidewords to the definition of effective actions for the prevention of domino events was analyzed. Due to the constraints originated by the conventional approach to process design, the "limitation of effects" guideword resulted the more effective in the identification of inherent safety actions to avoid domino events. Detailed design criteria for the improvement of layout in the framework of inherent safety were identified and discussed. Simple rules of thumbs were obtained for the preliminary assessment of safety distances and of critical inventories with respect to the escalation of fires and explosions. The results evidenced that the integration of inherent safety criteria with conventional passive or active protections seems a promising route for the prevention of severe domino accidental scenarios in chemical and process plants.

The quantitative assessment of domino effects caused by overpressure. Part I. Probit models

Accidents caused by domino effect are among the more severe that took place in the chemical and process industry. However, a well established and widely accepted methodology for the quantitative assessment of domino accidents contribution to industrial risk is still missing. Hence, available data on damage to process equipment caused by blast waves were revised in the framework of quantitative risk analysis, aiming at the quantitative assessment of domino effects caused by overpressure. Specific probit models were derived for several categories of process equipment and were compared to other literature approaches for the prediction of probability of damage of equipment loaded by overpressure. The results evidence the importance of using equipment-specific models for the probability of damage and equipment-specific damage threshold values, rather than general equipment correlation, which may lead to errors up to 500%.