• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.60-71
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• 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 the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.7-17
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• 1998

This study is to develop the consequence modeling methodology for quantitative prediction of the hazard distance(or toxic buffer distance) for two-phase flow continuous releases from the pressurized chlorine saturated liquid storage tank of the chemical plant facilities. The source term modeling was peformed by the refined analysis method based on USEPA's guideline and SuperChems model self-calculation, respectively. The hazard distance was predicted for STEL, IDLH and ERPGs(ERPG-2 and ERPG-3) concentrations being used as the toxic regultaion concentration in hazard estimation. To use as hazard estimation guideline for the establishment of the emergency response planning, the effects of source characteristics and meteorological vaiations on the hazard distance was especially considered for ERPG-2 concentration.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.58 no.3
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• pp.438-449
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• 2020

This study is to improve the method of calculating the risk of liability that arise from release and dispersion of chemicals outside the plant in process industries such as chemical and petrochemical plants. To achieve this goal, the correlation factors with the risk of chemical release accident is derived by simulating release and dispersion of substances (14 types) designated by Ministry of Environment as preparation for accident, analyzing the cases of chemical release and effects of plant life damage. The method of calculating chemical liability risk was modified and supplemented based on the results obtained from the study. The correlation coefficient between the probit value of 14 chemical types and the liability risk by EURAM (European Union Risk Ranking Method) was -0.526, while the correlation coefficient with the modified chemical release accident risk was 0.319. Thus, the value from modified method shows that they appear to be correlated. According to modified calculating methodology, the correlation between ERPG-2 value and liability risk of 97 chemical types was -0.494 which is 19 times higher than existing liability risk correlation as absolute value. And the correlation coefficient of corrosion risk was 0.91. The standardized regression coefficients (β) value of correlation factors that affected the increase and decrease of risk were derived in order of Corrosion Index(0.713), ERPG-2 (0.400) and NFPA Health Index (0.0680) by values. It is expected that these findings this study result will also enable the calculation of reasonable chemical release liability risk for existing and new chemical, and will help use them as quantitative liability risk management indicators for chemical plant site.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.77-82
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• 2017

Thus, chemicals are managed under 9 related central government department and 16 relevant laws with program such as Process Safety Management and Offsite Consequence Analysis in korea. Guidelines for set the endpoint concentration for chemcals based on the ERPG-2 (Emergency Response Planning Guidelines-2) and AEGL-2 (Acute Exposure Guidelines Level-2). but ERPG and AEGL do not describe exposure for less than 10 minutes. because of this, each guidelines define criteria differently for short time less than 10 minutes exposure. This indefinite exposure criteria would give rise to a confusion in the chemical plants, and potentially lead to a critical decision making error when accidents happen. In an effort to apply guidelines with evenly-distributed initial time frame, AEGL concentrations within 10 minute exposure time were evaluated by examining statistical regression curves. The results were in good agreement with those from the Probit Function based on each AEGL grade to explain 3 different threshold levels of exposure effects. Resultant re-enforced guidelines for endpoint chemical concentrations are, therefore, to provide powerful tool to assess and manage the risk associated with any potential chemical accidents at an early stage.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.582-585
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• 2016

This study intends to provide initial evacuation distances for the public in case of accidental releases of hydrogen fluoride (HF). HF is a very toxic chemical that is widely used in the chemical, electrical, and electronics industries. Consequence modeling programs, such as ALOHA and PHAST, were used to help formulate a contingency plan in case of an HF leak. For the purpose of this study, the release of entire quantity of HF in 10 min is defined as a worst-case scenario and the release from a partial line rupture is used as an alternative case scenario as National Institute of Chemical Safety (NICS) guidelines. Once the discharge rates were calculated based on the scenarios, the ERPG-2 endpoint distances have been obtained for representative daytime and nighttime weather conditions. This paper presents graphs that can be used to enact swift evacuation orders and emergency response plans in the case of accidental releases of HF.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.156-161
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• 2016

An accident of an ammonia tank pipeline at a storage plant resulted in one death and three injuries in 2014. Many accidents including toxic gas releases and explosions occur in the freezing and refrigerating systems using ammonia. Especially, the consequence can be substantial due to that the large amount of ammonia is usually being used in the refrigeration systems. In this study, offsite consequence analysis has been investigated when ammonia leaks outdoors from large storages. Both flammable and toxic effects are under consideration to calculate the affected area using simulation programs for consequence analysis. ERPG-2 concentration (150 ppm) has been selected to calculate the evacuation distance out of various release scenarios for their dispersions in day or night. For offsite residential, the impact area by flammability is much smaller than that by toxicity. The methodology consists of two steps as followings; 1. Calculation for discharge rates of accidental release scenarios. 2. Dispersion simulation using the discharge rate for different conditions. This proactive prediction for accidental releases of ammonia would help emergency teams act as quick as they can.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.73-80
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• 1997

This study was performed to develop the dispersion modeling methodology for quantitative prediction of the hazard distance or toxic buffer distance by comparing 10-min average, 30-min average, and 1-hr average maximum ground-level concentration with $Cl_2$ regultaion concentration, IDLH and ERPG-3 concentration for hazardous toxic gas, $Cl_2$ releases from the storage tank of the chemical plant facilities. For this dispersion modeling, the source term model, dispersion model, meteorological and topographical data are incorporated into the SuperChems model, and then the effects of the atmospheric stability, wind speed, and surface roughness length changes on the maxum ground-level concentration were estimated.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.44-54
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• 2018

Objectives: To protect individuals working at the site as well as the surrounding general population from a chemical accident, several emergency exposure guidance levels have been used to set a level of concern for certain chemicals. However, a level of concern has not been established for many substances that are frequently used or produced in large quantities in Korean workplaces. In the present study, we investigated the guidance levels for protecting populations from chemical exposure and the estimation of level of concern using acute inhalation and oral toxicity data. Methods: The number of chemicals to which emergency exposure guidance levels (e.g., ERPG-2, AEGL-2, PAC-2, and IDLH) can be applied were determined among 822 hazardous chemicals according to the 'Technical Guidelines for the Selection of Accident Scenarios (revised December 2016)'. The ERPG and AEGL values were compared across all three tiers for the 31 substances that appeared on both lists. We examined the degree of difference between the emergency exposure guidance levels and the estimates of level of concern calculated from acute inhalation or acute oral toxicity data. Results: Among the 822 hazardous chemicals, emergency exposure guidance levels can be applied to 359 substances, suggesting that the estimates of level of concern should be calculated using acute toxicity data for 56.3% of the hazardous chemicals. When comparing the concordance rates of ERPG and AEGL for 31 substances, the difference between the two criteria was generally small. However, about 40% of the substances have values diverging by more than three-fold in at least one tier. Such discrepancies may cause interpretation and communication problems in risk management. The emergency exposure guidance levels were similar to the estimates of level of concern calculated using acute inhalation toxicity data, but the differences were significant when using acute oral toxicity data. These results indicate that the level of concern derived from acute oral toxicity data may be insufficient to protect the population in some cases. Conclusion: Our study suggests that the development of standardized guidance values for emergency chemical exposure in the Korean population should be encouraged. It is also necessary to analyze acute toxicity data and fill the information gaps for substances that are important in Korean workplace situations.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.12
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• pp.685-688
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• 2017

Using ALOHA and PHAST Program, it was modeled assuming the leakage accident scenarios of chlorine which is designated as accident preparation chemical in chemical control act. End-point distances corresponding to ERPG-2 concentrations were calculated while varying annual mean temperature, wind speed, humidity, and atmospheric stability. The calculated endpoint distance values were compared and the correlation with each meteorological factor was analyzed. And we also investigated strengths and weaknesses of ALOHA and PHAST. The results show that ALOHA has little or no correlation with annual average temperature, humidity and it has a large correlation with wind speed and atmospheric stability. In the case of PHAST, the end-point distances were correlated with all the meteorological factors such as average annual temperature, wind speed, humidity, and atmospheric stability, Among them, the effect of atmospheric stability were the largest.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.48-53
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• 2017

Since the number and the amount of toxic substances handled by domestic companies have been increased, the possibility of serious chemical accidents has become severe. According to Chemistry Safety Clearing-house (CSC), the number of chemical accidents for the last five years has been rapidly raised. A representative example which shows the serious impact of a chemical accident is HF (Hydrogen Fluoride) accident generated in Gumi in 2012. In order to make effective responses for mitigating losses of accidents, the most suitable consequence model has to be selected and implemented throughout the considerations of chemical properties and environments. Even if each consequence model has been verified by the results of experiments, it is necessary to analyze and compare the usability of them according to various scenarios. In this study, the Gumi HF accident is simulated by HGSYSTEM, which is the most specialized model for the release and dispersion of HF. It is found that the ending point of ERPG-2 is about 1 km from the accident point. In order to investigate the usability of the most representative consequence models (ALOHA and CARIS), the results of them are compared with one of HGSYSTEM.