Risk assessment screening study for fire, explosion and toxicity effects of hydrocarbons stored in a sphere and bullet

A fast and economical approach was used to assess impact of fires, explosions and toxicity for a LPG gas storage facility using Fire Explosion and Chemical (FEC) Indices, the TNT and TNO multi energy methods, which are part of a process hazard analysis study. The assessment identified high consequence events for radiation, toxicity and overpressure due to catastrophic rupture of spheres and bullets holding LPG. The FEC Indices indicated that further investigation was needed to determine the extent of blast overpressure whereas toxicity was not identified as a high consequence. The TNO method was used to assess overpressure for congested volumes and unconfined vapour cloud explosions for a bullet, whereas the TNT method was used to predict overpressure occurring on a sphere with no congestion. The FEC indices can be used to screen for high consequence events in order to save time and identify the level of risk complexity needed for process equipment, whereas the TNO method can be easily applied when determining safety distances from LPG facilities for various building constructions provided that the degree of congestion is known.

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Opracowanie ze środków MNiSW w ramach umowy 812/P-DUN/2016 na działalność upowszechniającą naukę (zadania 2017).