Citation

Soltanzadeh A, Mahdinia M, Golmohammadpour H, Pourbabaki R, Mohammad-Ghasemi M, Sadeghi-Yarandi M. Int. J. Occup. Safety Ergonomics 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Centralny Instytut Ochrony Pracy - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/10803548.2022.2041846

PMID

35152844

Abstract

AbstractPurpose. The amount of biogas production in treatment plants for energy generation has increased in recent years. This study aimed to model the consequence of biogas release in a large urban treatment plant.

MATERIALS AND METHODS. The present study was conducted to model biogas storage tanks' consequences in one of the large urban treatment plants in Iran. Due to the potential for this substance's harmfulness, all three consequences of toxic release, fire, and the explosion were evaluated. The scenarios were evaluated in the worst-case situation. All modeling steps were performed using PHAST 7.2.

RESULTS. In the case of catastrophic rupture of the reservoir in the summer, distances of 3788.94, 128.86, and 91.72 meters from the reservoir in the direction of the wind will be placed in the range of 100, 500 and 1000 ppm of biogas, respectively. The study of pressure values due to explosion in the catastrophic rupture scenario revealed that distances of 57.19, 14.70, and 115.84 meters from the biogas reservoir were in the range of 0.02, 0.13, and 0.2 bar pressure increase, respectively.

CONCLUSION. Due to the treatment plant's location in a dense urban area, biogas' dispersion could lead to many people's exposure to high-risk areas. Therefore, taking control measures comparable with the consequence modeling output can be a practical step towards reducing the vulnerability against such incidents.

Language: en

Keywords

Biogas; Consequence Modeling; Explosion; Fire; Toxic Release; Treatment Plant