• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.66-74
• /
• 2024

This study addresses the escalating issue of worldwide hydrogen gas accidents, which has seen a significant increase in occurrences. To comprehensively evaluate the risks associated with hydrogen, a two approach was employed in this study. Firstly, a qualitative risk assessment was conducted using the bow-tie method. Secondly, a quantitative consequence analysis was carried out utilizing the areal locations of hazardous atmospheres (ALOHA) model. The study applied this method to two incidents, the hydrogen explosion accident occurred at the Muskingum River power plant in Ohio, USA, 2007 and the hydrogen storage tank explosion accident occurred at the K Technopark water electrolysis system in Korea, 2019. The results of the risk assessments revealed critical issues such as deterioration of gas pipe, human errors in incident response and the omission of important gas cleaning facility. By analyzing the cause of accidents and assessing risks quantitatively, the effective accident response plans are proposed and the effectiveness is evaluated by comparing the effective distance obtained by ALOHA simulation. Notably, the implementation of these measures led to a significant 54.5% reduction in the risk degree of potential explosions compared to the existing risk levels.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.346-357
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study is to suggest improvement plans for prevention regulations by reflecting the toxicity, fire and explosion effects of hazardous materials factories and surrounding areas using an off-site consequence assessment program. Regarding the effects of the hydrogen cyanide leak accident, which is the 1st petroleum of the 4th class flammable liquid, Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres (ALOHA) program was used to compare and analyze the extent of damage effects for toxicity, overpressure, and radiation. As a result, the toxicity was analyzed to exceed 5km in the area with Acute exposure guideline level (AEGL)-2 concentration or higher, the overpressure was 103m in the range of 1 psi or more, and the radiant heat was analyzed to be 724m in the range of 2kw/m² or more. Toxicity and radiation affected the area outside the hazardous material storage area, but the overpressure was limited to the inside of the hazardous material storage area. Therefore, we propose to improve the safety management of hazardous materials by conducting a risk assessment for hazardous materials and reflecting the results in internal and external emergency response plans to prepare prevention regulations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.38 no.6
• /
• pp.60-71
• /
• 2023

The purpose of this study is to propose a quantitative toxicity endpoint distance suitable for the initial response of firefighters by comparing and analyzing the commonly applied toxic level of concern (T-LOC), specifically emergency response planning guidelines (ERPG), acute exposure guideline levels (AEGL), and immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH). This is to protect the fire brigade, which responds to toxic chemical accidents first during the golden time. Using areal locations of hazardous atmospheres, a damage prediction program, the amount of leakage for both acidic and basic substances, along with the endpoint distance, were analyzed for alternative accident and worst-case accident scenarios. The results showed that the toxicity endpoint distance, serving as a compromise between Level-3 and Level-2 of T-LOC, was longer than ERPG-3 and shorter than ERPG-2 with IDLH, while its values were analyzed in the order of ERPG-2, AEGL-2, IDLH, AEGL-3, and ERPG-3. It is suggested that the application of IDLH in an emergency (red card) and ERPG-2 endpoint distance in a non-emergency (non-red card) can be utilized for the initial response of the fire brigade.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.151-158
• /
• 1999

Offsite consequences resulting form worst-case scenarios involving release of toxic substances in the Yochon area were estimated using the ALOHA(Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres) model. Eight toxic substances, including NH3, were considered; five were toxic gases and three were toxic liquids at ambient temperature. For toxic gases, the entire quantity was assumed to be released at a constant rate during a 10-minute period. For toxic liquids, the entire quantity stored in the tank was assumed to be spilled and spread and spread instantaneously to form a pool with a depth of 1cm, and then evaporated over some period of time. Except for phosgene and toluene 2,4-diisocyanate, for which concentration levels corresponding to human health effects are very low, average distances of the area at risk of adverse health effects for a 1- tom release were predicted to be $2.3{\pm}1.1 km$ for the worst-case meteorological conditions and $0.93{\pm}0.69km$ under typical meteorological conditions of the Yochon are. Because a large number of people were predicted to be affected in the current analysis, refined analyses considering both realistic accident scenarios and topographic effects were warranted.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.255-266
• /
• 2024

The purpose is to evaluate evacuation safety by simulating the toxic effects of hydrogen fluoride leaks in areas surrounding national industrial complexes and to suggest alternatives for areas that do not satisfy evacuation safety. For human casualties caused by hydrogen fluoride leakage accidents, Available Safe Egress Time (ASET) is calculated by the toxic effects quantified with the Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres (ALOHA), an off-site consequence assessment program. The Required Safe Egress Time (RSET) is calculated through Pathfinder, an evacuation simulation program. Evacuation safety is assessed by comparing ASET and RSET. The ALOHA program was used to evaluate the time to reach AEGL-2 concentration in 12 scenarios. The Pathfinder program was used to assess the total evacuation time of the high school among specific fire-fighting objects. Of the 12 accident scenarios, ASET was larger than RSET in the worst-case scenarios 1 and 9. For the remaining 10 accident scenarios, the ASET is smaller than the RSET, so we found that evacuation safety is not guaranteed, and countermeasures are required. Since evacuation safety is not satisfactory, we proposed to set up an evacuation area equipped with positive pressure equipment and air respirators inside specific fire-fighting objects such as the high school.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.13-21
• /
• 2019

Leakage accidents in businesses dealing with hazardous chemicals can have a great impact on the workers inside the workplace, as well as residents outside the workplace. In fact, there were cases where hazardous chemicals leaked from many businesses. As a result, the Chemicals Control Act(CCA) was enacted in 2015, the Ministry of Environment introduced an Off-site Risk Assessment(ORA). The purpose of the ORA is to secure safety from the installation of the design of the workplace facilities so that chemical accidents of hazardous chemical handling facilities do not cause human or physical damage outside the workplace. In general, the ORA qualitatively determines where a protected facility is within the scope of the accident scenario. However, elderly who belong to the sensitive group is more sensitive than the general group under the same chemical accident effect, and the extent of the damage is serious. According to data from the Korea National Statistic Office, the number of elderly people is expected to increase steadily. Therefore, a quantitative risk analysis considering the elderly is necessary as a result of a chemical accident. In this study, accident scenarios for 14 locations were set up to perform emergency evacuation due to toxic gas leakage of Cl₂(Chlorine) and HF(Hydrogen Fluoride), and the effects of exposure were analyzed based on the evacuation velocity difference of age 20s and 60s. The ALOHA(Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres) program was used to calculate the concentration for assessing the effects. The time of exposure to toxic gas was calculated based on the time it took for the evacuation to run from the start point to the desired point and a methodology was devised that could be applied to the risk calculation. As a result of the study, the relative risk of the elderly, the sensitive group, needs to be determined.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.18-25
• /
• 2018

As the industries become more developed, the amounts of hazardous materials have been increased. Because of that, the possibility of accidents in plants is expected to increase. Especially, the dispersions of toxic materials cause serious effect to human life and environment, So it is very important to confirm safety distance of discharge accident. For this paper, we proposed new algorithms for toxic liquid, such as benzene and acrylonitrile. and using this argorithm, we are going to predict safety distance. The scenario of accidental release was assumed to be the release of entire quantity in 10 minutes is defined as worst-case scenario and Instantaneous release. Also the release from a partial rupture of line is used as an alternative case scenarios as NICS(National Institute of Chemical Safety) guidelines. Using ALOHA program and the algorithm for liquid toxic materials and suggested the graph, as well as correlated equations which can utilize emergency responders.