• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.25-36
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• 2021

Hydrogen in hydrogen-electric vehicles has a wide range of combustion and explosion ranges, and is a combustible gas with a very fast flame propagation speed, so it has the risk of leakage, diffusion, ignition, and explosion. The fuel tank has a Thermally active Pressure Relief Device (TPRD) to reduce the risk of explosion and other explosions, and in the event of an accident, hydrogen inside the tank is released outside before an explosion or fire occurs. However, if an accident occurs in a semi-closed space such as an underground parking lot, the flow of air flow is smaller than the open space, which can cause the concentration of hydrogen gas emitted from the TPRD to accumulate above the explosion limit. Therefore, in this study, the leakage rate and concentration of hydrogen over time were analyzed according to the diameter of the nozzle of the TPRD. The diameter of the nozzle was considered to be 1 mm, 2.5 mm and 5 mm, and ccording to the diameter of the nozzle, the concentration of hydrogen in the underground parking lot increases in a faster time with the diameter of the nozzle, and the maximum value is also analyzed to be larger with the diameter of the nozzle. In underground parking lots where air currents are stagnant, hydrogen concentrations above LFL (Lowe Flammability Limit) were analyzed to be distributed around the nozzle, and it was analyzed that they did not exceed UFL (Upper Flammability Limit).

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.7-13
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• 2021

Various research has been done on fires and explosions at gas stations at home and abroad. However, only studies of off-site damage in the event of fire at the gas station were conducted, and research on fire at the auxiliary facilities in the gas station was insufficient. The gas station is a place where anyone can easily access dangerous goods. As the risk of fire increases due to the recent increase of auxiliary facilities such as convenience stores and car repair shops in gas stations, it is important to detect the effects of fire on the main oil refinery in case of fire and to verify the validity of existing regulations. In this thesis, we conducted a study to find out the effect of radiation heat on the separation between fixed and fixed oil reactors in the event of fire at an auxiliary facility. Simulation was modelled using FDS 5.5.3 Version, and the size of the fire source was configured with 13 fire assessment devices and the heat emission rate per unit area was entered. Simulation shows that the separation distance of 2 m does not secure the safety of the gas pump in the event of fire at the auxiliary facilities, and radiation heat does not damage at the separation distance of at least 4 m. Accordingly, facilities that can block radiant heat in the event of fire at auxiliary facilities, and measures to limit the use of auxiliary facilities or to re-impose the separation between buildings and fixtures will be needed.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.38 no.11
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• pp.107-118
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• 2022

The social need for stable hydrogen storage technologies that respond to the increasing demand for hydrogen energy is increasing. Among them, underground hydrogen storage is recognized as the most economical and reasonable storage method because of its vast hydrogen storage capacity. In Korea, low-depth hydrogen storage using artificial protective structures is being considered. Further, establishing corresponding safety standards and ground stability evaluation is becoming essential. This study evaluated the hydro-mechanical behavior of the ground during a hydrogen gas leak from a low-depth underground hydrogen storage facility through the HM coupled analysis model. The predictive reliability of the simulation model was verified through benchmark experiments. A parameter study was performed using a metamodel to analyze the sensitivity of factors affecting the surface uplift caused by the upward infiltration of high-pressure hydrogen gas. Accordingly, it was confirmed that the elastic modulus of the ground was the largest. The simulation results are considered to be valuable primary data for evaluating the complex analysis of hydrogen gas explosions as well as hydrogen gas leaks in the future.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.273-282
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• 2023

Probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) has been widely used to evaluate the seismic risk of nuclear power plants (NPPs). However, studies on seismic PSA for process plants, such as gas plants, oil refineries, and chemical plants, have been scarce. This is because the major disasters to which these process plants are vulnerable include explosions, fires, and release (or dispersion) of toxic chemicals. However, seismic PSA is essential for the plants located in regions with significant earthquake risks. Seismic PSA entails probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA), event tree analysis (ETA), fault tree analysis (FTA), and fragility analysis for the structures and essential equipment items. Among those analyses, ETA can depict the accident sequence for core damage, which is the worst disaster and top event concerning NPPs. However, there is no general top event with regard to process plants. Therefore, PSA cannot be directly applied to process plants. Moreover, there is a paucity of studies on developing fragility curves for various equipment. This paper introduces PSA for gas plants based on FTA, which is then transformed into Bayesian network, that is, a probabilistic graph model that can aid risk-informed decision-making. Finally, the proposed method is applied to a gas plant, and several decision-making cases are demonstrated.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.79-85
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• 2023

Recently, in the semiconductor process, large companies are seeking process changes from memory semiconductors to the foundry due to the increase in demand due to the 4th industry. industry is expanding. The characteristics of special gases and precursors, which are raw materials used to produce these semiconductor chips, are toxic, pyrophoric, inflammable, and corrosive. These semiconductor raw materials are operated in a closed system and do not leak to the outside during normal times, but when leaked, they spread to the inside of the gas box, and when proper ventilation is not provided inside the gas box, they spread to the outside, causing fires, explosions, or toxic substances. It can lead to major accidents such as leakage. Recently, there have been cases of accidents in which hazardous materials leaked from the closed system of the semi conductor process and spread to the inside and outside of the gas box. . In this study, we propose preventive measures based on the case of an accident in which raw material leaked from the VCR fitting, which is the connection part of the semiconductor raw material transfer pipe, and spread to the outside of the gas box.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.355-364
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• 2023

The arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method has been extensively researched owing to its capability to accurately predict the propagation of blast shock waves. Although the use of the ALE method for dynamic analysis can produce unreliable results depending on the mesh size of the finite element, few studies have explored the relationship between the mesh size for the air domain and the accuracy of numerical analysis. In this study, we propose a procedure to calculate the optimal mesh size based on the mean squared error between the maximum blast pressure values obtained from numerical simulations and experiments. Furthermore, we analyze the relationship between the weight of explosive material (TNT) and the optimal mesh size of the air domain. The findings from this study can contribute to estimating the optimal mesh size in blast simulations with various explosion weights and promote the development of advanced blast numerical analysis models.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.8-14
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• 2023

Lithium ions can induce the thermal runaway phenomenon and lead to reignition due to electrical, mechanical, and environmental factors such as high temperature, smoke generation, explosions, or flames, which is extremely likely to create safety concerns. Therefore, one of the ways to improve the flame retardancy of the electrolyte is to use a flame-retardant additive. Comparing the associated characteristic value of existing substances with the required experimental value, it was found that these values were either considerably different or were not documented. It is vital to know a substance's combustion characteristic values, flash point, explosion limit, and autoignition temperature (AIT) as well as its combustion characteristics before using it. In this research, the flash point and AIT of materials were measured by mixing a highly volatile and flammable substance, diethyl carbonate (DEC), with flame-retardant dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP). The flash point of DEC, which is a pure substance, was 29℃, and that for DMMP was 65℃. Further, the lower explosion limit calculated using the measured flash point of DEC was 1.79 Vol.%, while that for DMMP was 0.79 Vol.%. The AIT was 410℃ and 390℃ for DEC and DMMP, respectively. In particular, since the AIT of DMMP has not been discussed in any previous study, it is necessary to ensure safety through experimental values. In this study, the experimental and regression analysis revealed that the average absolute deviation (ADD) for the flash point of the DEC+DMMP DEC+DMMP system is 0.58 sec and that the flash point tends to increase according to changes in the composition employed. It also revealed that the AAD for the AIT of the mixture was 3.17 sec and that the AIT tended to decrease and then increase based on changes in the composition.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.21 no.9
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• pp.1077-1086
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• 2020

Objective: To evaluate the effect of perfluorobutane microbubbles (Sonazoid^®, GE Healthcare) on steam popping during radiofrequency (RF) ablation for treating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and to assess whether popping affects treatment outcomes. Materials and Methods: The institutional review board approved this retrospective study, which included 90 consecutive patients with single HCC, who received percutaneous RF ablation as the first-line treatment. The patients were divided into two groups, based on the presence or absence of the popping phenomenon, which was defined as an audible sound with a simultaneous sudden explosion within the ablation zone as detected via ultrasonography during the procedure. The factors contributing to the popping phenomenon were identified using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Local tumor progression (LTP) and disease-free survival (DFS) were assessed using the Kaplan-Meier method with the log-rank test for performing comparisons between the two groups. Results: The overall incidence of the popping phenomenon was 25.8% (24/93). Sonazoid^® was used in 1 patient (4.2%) in the popping group (n = 24), while it was used in 15 patients (21.7%) in the non-popping group (n = 69). Multivariable analysis revealed that the use of Sonazoid^® was the only significant factor for absence of the popping phenomenon (odds ratio = 0.10, p = 0.048). There were no significant differences in cumulative LTP and DFS between the two groups (p = 0.479 and p = 0.424, respectively). Conclusion: The use of Sonazoid^® has a suppressive effect on the popping phenomenon during RF ablation in patients with HCC. However, the presence of the popping phenomenon may not affect clinical outcomes.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2024

If flammable liquid leaks, vapor evaporated from the pool can cause poisoning or suffocation to workers, leading to secondary accidents such as fires and explosions. To prevent such damage, ventilation facilities shall be installed when designing indoor workplaces. At this time, the behavior varies depending on the characteristics of the leaked chemical, so it is necessary to select a suitable vent location according to the material. Therefore, 3D CFD simulations were introduced to derive optimal vent position and ventilation efficiency was quantitatively evaluated by vent position. At this time, assuming a situation in which flammable liquids leak at indoor workplaces to form pools, the concentration of vapor evaporated from pools was compared to derive the optimal vent position. As a result of research on toluene with high vapor density, ventilation efficiency was confirmed to be the highest at the upper supply-lower exhaust, and it is judged that introducing it can achieve about 3.7 times ventilation effect at the same maintenance cost. Through this study, it is expected that the workplace will be able to secure workers' safety by applying simulation results and installing ventilation ports.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.165-175
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• 2024

Hydrogen is being touted as one of the energy sources to combat the climate change crisis. However, hydrogen can leak into enclosed spaces, rise to the ceiling, accumulate, and cause fires and explosions if it encounters an ignition source. In particular, ships that transport hydrogen or use it as a fuel comprise multiple enclosed spaces. Therefore, the dif usion characteristics within these spaces must be understood to ensure the safe use of hydrogen. The purpose of this study is to experimentally determine the diffusion characteristics of helium, which has similar properties to hydrogen, in a closed space on board a ship, and to determine the change in the oxygen concentration along the leakage direction as the air change per hour(ACH) increases to 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 through CFD simulation. The study, results revealed that the oxygen concentration reduction rate was 2% for leakage in the -z direction and 1% for leakage in the +x and +z directions, and the ventilation time was 15 min 30 s for leakage in the -z direction, 7 min for leakage in the +x direction, and 9 min for leakage in the +z direction, showing that differences existed in the oxygen concentration and ventilation time depending on the leakage direction. In addition, no significant difference was observed in the rate of oxygen concentration reduction and ventilation time in all leakage directions from the ACH of 35 and above in the experimental space. Therefore, because the oxygen concentration and ventilation time were not improved by increasing the ACH, 35 was noted as the optimal ACH in this experimental environment.