• Title/Summary/Keyword: leak gases

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A Study on Quantitative Risk Analysis & Model Application for Hydrogen Filling Center (수소충전시설에 대한 정량적 위험성 평가 및 모델적용에 관한 연구)

  • Shin, Jung-Soo;Byun, Hun-Soo
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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    • v.16 no.6
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    • pp.87-101
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    • 2012
  • In gas industries, the potential risks of serious accidents have been increased due to high technology application and process complexities. Especially, in case of gas-related accidents, the extent of demage is out of control since gas plants handle and produce combustible, flammable, explosive and toxic materials in large amounts. The characteristics of this kind of disaster is that accident frequency is low, while the impact of damage is high, extending to the neighboring residents, environment and related industries as well as employees involved. The hydrogen gases treated important things and it used the basic material of chemical plants and industries. Since 2000, this gas stood in the spotlight the substitution energy for reduction of the global warming in particular however it need to compress high pressure(more than 150 bar.g) and store by using the special cylinders due to their low molecular weight. And this gas led to many times the fire and explosion due to leak of it. To reduce these kinds of risks and accidents, it is necessary to improve the new safety management system through a risk management after technically evaluating potential hazards in this process. This study is to carry out the quantitative risk assesment for hydrogen filling plant which are very dangerous(fire and explosive) and using a basic materials of general industries. As a results of this risk assessment, identified the elements important for safety(EIS) and suggested the practical management tools and verified the reliability of this risk assessment model through case study of accident.

Recent Developments and Field Application of Foreign Waterworks Automatic Meter Reading (국외 상수도 원격검침시스템의 개발 동향 및 현장 적용 사례 고찰)

  • Joo, Jin Chul;Ahn, Hosang;Ahn, Chang Hyuk;Ko, Kyung-Rok;Oh, Hyun-Je
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.34 no.12
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    • pp.863-870
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    • 2012
  • The market trends of automatic meter reading associated with smart water meters were investigated. Also, recent developments and field applications of key technology for automatic meter reading associated with smart water meters were analyzed. Smart water meters have been manufactured mostly in United States and Europe and have been expanded their business to Asia. Integrated water management system combining with the additional functions such as real-time consumption metering, cost notification, water conservation, leak detection, water quality monitoring, and flow control have been operated in automatic meter reading. Both water quality and quantity data measured from smart water meters and sensors were transferred to data concentration units through neighborhood area network, and then were transferred to integrated server through wide area network. The data transfer methods were determined by comprehensively considering urban scale, density of smart water meters, power supply and network topologies. Common data collection methods such as fixed network to data concentation units, vehicles drive by, people walk by, and drone fly by have been applied. The automatic meter reading associated with smart water meters are spread throughout the world, and both water and energy savings result in saving the money and reducing the greenhouse gases emission.

A Study on Measures to Prevent Leakage of Process Fluid from the VCR Fitting used in the Semiconductor Manufacturing Process (반도체 제조 공정에서 사용되는 이송배관 연결부위(VCR Fitting)로부터 공정유체 누출사고 예방 대책에 관한 연구)

  • Dae Joon Lee;Sang Ryung Kim;Sang Gil Kim;Chung Sang Kang;Joon Won Lee
    • 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.

Development of Accident Response Information Sheets for Hydrogen Fluoride (불화수소에 대한 사고대응 정보시트 개발)

  • Yoon, Young Sam;Park, Yeon Shin;Kim, Ki Joon;Cho, Mun Sik;Hwang, Dong Gun;Yoon, Jun heon;Choi, Kyung Hee
    • Korean Journal of Hazardous Materials
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.18-26
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    • 2014
  • We analyzed the demand of competent authorities requiring adequate technical information for initial investigation of chemical accidents. Reflecting technical reports on chemical accident response by environmental agencies in the U.S. and Canada, we presented information on environmental diffusion and toxic effects available for the first chemical accident response. Hydrogen fluoride may have the risk potential to corrode metals and cause serious burns and eye damages. In case of inhalation or intake, it could have severe health effects. The substance itself is inflammable, but once heated, it decomposes producing corrosive and toxic fume. In case of contact with water, it can produce toxic, corrosive, flammable or explosive gases and its solution, a strong acid, may react fiercely with a base. In case of hydrogen fluoride leak, the preventive measures are to decrease steam generation in exposed sites, prevent the transfer of vapor cloud and promptly respond using inflammable substances including calcium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, ground limestone, dried soil, dry sand, vermiculite, fly ash and powder cement. The method for fire fighting is to suppress fire with manless hose stanchions or monitor nozzles by wearing the whole body protective clothing equipped with over-pressure self-contained breathing apparatus from distance. In case of transport accident accompanied with fire, evacuation distance is 1,600m radius. In cae of fire, fire suppression needs to be performed using dry chemicals, CO2, water spray, water fog, and alcohol-resistance foam, etc. The major symptoms by exposure route are dyspnoea, bronchitis, chemical pneumonia and pulmonary edema for respiration, skin laceration, dermatitis, burn, frostbite and erythema for eyes, and nausea, diarrhea, stomachache, and tissue destruction for digestive organs. In atmosphere, its persistency is low, and its bioaccumulation in aquatic organism is also low.

Influence of Mixture Non-uniformity on Methane Explosion Characteristics in a Horizontal Duct (수평 배관의 메탄 폭발특성에 있어서 불균일성 혼합기의 영향)

  • Ou-Sup Han;Yi-Rac Choi;HyeongHk Kim;JinHo Lim
    • Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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    • v.62 no.1
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    • pp.27-35
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    • 2024
  • Fuel gases such as methane and propane are used in explosion hazardous area of domestic plants and can form non-uniform mixtures with the influence of process conditions due to leakage. The fire-explosion risk assessment using literature data measured under uniform mixtures, damage prediction can be obtained the different results from actual explosion accidents by gas leaks. An explosion characteristics such as explosion pressure and flame velocity of non-uniform gas mixtures with concentration change similar to that of facility leak were examined. The experiments were conducted in a closed 0.82 m long stainless steel duct with observation recorded by color high speed camera and piezo pressure sensor. Also we proposed the quantification method of non-uniform mixtures from a regression analysis model on the change of concentration difference with time in explosion duct. For the non-uniform condition of this study, the area of flame surface enlarged with increasing the concentration non-uniform in the flame propagation of methane and was similar to the wrinkled flame structure existing in a turbulent flame. The time to peak pressure of methane decreased as the non-uniform increased and the explosion pressure increased with increasing the non-uniform. The ranges of KG (Deflagration index) of methane with the concentration non-uniform were 1.30 to 1.58 [MPa·m/s] and the increase rate of KG was 17.7% in methane with changing from uniform to non-uniform.

The 'Consequence Analysis' of Variables Affecting the Extent of Damage Caused by Butane Vapor Cloud Explosions (부탄가스 증기운폭발의 피해범위에 영향을 미치는 변수에 관한 고찰)

  • Char Soon-Chul;Choo Kwang-Ho
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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    • v.5 no.4 s.16
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    • pp.1-7
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    • 2001
  • This paper presents a 'consequence analysis' for vapor cloud explosions caused by heavy gas leakages from commercially used storage tanks at petrochemical plants. Particularly, this paper emphasizes on evaluating the results of various vapor cloud explosion accidents from Butane storage tanks. Also this paper analyses the impact of variables on the accidents in order to acquire the optimum conditions for variables. $SuperChems^{TM}$ Professional Edition was applied to analyse the impact (If atmospheric and other variables in the situation where vapor cloud continuously disperses from the ground level. Under the assumption that practical operating conditions are selected as a standard condition, and Butane leaks from the storage tank for 15 minutes, the results show that the maximum distance of LFL (Lower Flammable Limit) was 52 meters and overpressure by the vapor cloud explosion was 1 psi at 128.2 meters. It is observed that the impact of the variables on accidental Butane storage tank leakage mainly varied upon atmospheric stability, wind velocity, pipe line size, visible length, etc., and changes in the simulation result occurred as the variables varied. The maximum distance of the LFL (Lower Flammable Limit) increased as the visible length became shorter, the size of the leak became larger, the wind velocity was decreased, and the climatic conditions became more stable. Thus, by analysing the variables that influence the simulation results of explosions of Butane storage tanks containing heavy gases, I am presenting the most appropriate method for 'consequence analysis' and the selection of standards for suitable values of variables, to obtain the most optimal conditions for the best results.

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Wearable Computers

  • Cho, Gil-Soo;Barfield, Woodrow;Baird, Kevin
    • Fiber Technology and Industry
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    • v.2 no.4
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    • pp.490-508
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    • 1998
  • One of the latest fields of research in the area of output devices is tactual display devices [13,31]. These tactual or haptic devices allow the user to receive haptic feedback output from a variety of sources. This allows the user to actually feel virtual objects and manipulate them by touch. This is an emerging technology and will be instrumental in enhancing the realism of wearable augmented environments for certain applications. Tactual displays have previously been used for scientific visualization in virtual environments by chemists and engineers to improve perception and understanding of force fields and of world models populated with the impenetrable. In addition to tactual displays, the use of wearable audio displays that allow sound to be spatialized are being developed. With wearable computers, designers will soon be able to pair spatialized sound to virtual representations of objects when appropriate to make the wearable computer experience even more realistic to the user. Furthermore, as the number and complexity of wearable computing applications continues to grow, there will be increasing needs for systems that are faster, lighter, and have higher resolution displays. Better networking technology will also need to be developed to allow all users of wearable computers to have high bandwidth connections for real time information gathering and collaboration. In addition to the technology advances that make users need to wear computers in everyday life, there is also the desire to have users want to wear their computers. In order to do this, wearable computing needs to be unobtrusive and socially acceptable. By making wearables smaller and lighter, or actually embedding them in clothing, users can conceal them easily and wear them comfortably. The military is currently working on the development of the Personal Information Carrier (PIC) or digital dog tag. The PIC is a small electronic storage device containing medical information about the wearer. While old military dog tags contained only 5 lines of information, the digital tags may contain volumes of multi-media information including medical history, X-rays, and cardiograms. Using hand held devices in the field, medics would be able to call this information up in real time for better treatment. A fully functional transmittable device is still years off, but this technology once developed in the military, could be adapted tp civilian users and provide ant information, medical or otherwise, in a portable, not obstructive, and fashionable way. Another future device that could increase safety and well being of its users is the nose on-a-chip developed by the Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee. This tiny digital silicon chip about the size of a dime, is capable of 'smelling' natural gas leaks in stoves, heaters, and other appliances. It can also detect dangerous levels of carbon monoxide. This device can also be configured to notify the fire department when a leak is detected. This nose chip should be commercially available within 2 years, and is inexpensive, requires low power, and is very sensitive. Along with gas detection capabilities, this device may someday also be configured to detect smoke and other harmful gases. By embedding this chip into workers uniforms, name tags, etc., this could be a lifesaving computational accessory. In addition to the future safety technology soon to be available as accessories are devices that are for entertainment and security. The LCI computer group is developing a Smartpen, that electronically verifies a user's signature. With the increase in credit card use and the rise in forgeries, is the need for commercial industries to constantly verify signatures. This Smartpen writes like a normal pen but uses sensors to detect the motion of the pen as the user signs their name to authenticate the signature. This computational accessory should be available in 1999, and would bring increased peace of mind to consumers and vendors alike. In the entertainment domain, Panasonic is creating the first portable hand-held DVD player. This device weight less than 3 pounds and has a screen about 6' across. The color LCD has the same 16:9 aspect ratio of a cinema screen and supports a high resolution of 280,000 pixels and stereo sound. The player can play standard DVD movies and has a hour battery life for mobile use. To summarize, in this paper we presented concepts related to the design and use of wearable computers with extensions to smart spaces. For some time, researchers in telerobotics have used computer graphics to enhance remote scenes. Recent advances in augmented reality displays make it possible to enhance the user's local environment with 'information'. As shown in this paper, there are many application areas for this technology such as medicine, manufacturing, training, and recreation. Wearable computers allow a much closer association of information with the user. By embedding sensors in the wearable to allow it to see what the user sees, hear what the user hears, sense the user's physical state, and analyze what the user is typing, an intelligent agent may be able to analyze what the user is doing and try to predict the resources he will need next or in the near future. Using this information, the agent may download files, reserve communications bandwidth, post reminders, or automatically send updates to colleagues to help facilitate the user's daily interactions. This intelligent wearable computer would be able to act as a personal assistant, who is always around, knows the user's personal preferences and tastes, and tries to streamline interactions with the rest of the world.

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