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Identification, Classification and Assessment of Hazards

1. Explosions occur due to a rapid release of energy from chemical reactions or pressurized vessels. They can be confined within structures or unconfined in open areas. 2. Major types of explosions include vapor cloud explosions, boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions, and dust explosions. Vapor cloud and dust explosions depend on factors like material quantity, dispersion, ignition sources, and oxygen concentration. 3. Explosion hazards stem from overpressures, fragmentation, and dispersion of combustible materials. General causes include activation by electricity, heating, or contact with reactive materials like water. Controls involve limiting materials, preventing ignitable mixtures, removing ignition sources, inerting, relief systems, and barriers.

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81 views27 pages

Identification, Classification and Assessment of Hazards

1. Explosions occur due to a rapid release of energy from chemical reactions or pressurized vessels. They can be confined within structures or unconfined in open areas. 2. Major types of explosions include vapor cloud explosions, boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions, and dust explosions. Vapor cloud and dust explosions depend on factors like material quantity, dispersion, ignition sources, and oxygen concentration. 3. Explosion hazards stem from overpressures, fragmentation, and dispersion of combustible materials. General causes include activation by electricity, heating, or contact with reactive materials like water. Controls involve limiting materials, preventing ignitable mixtures, removing ignition sources, inerting, relief systems, and barriers.

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Seid Aragaw
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Lecture 03

Identification, classification and assessment of


hazards

Hazards due to explosion


Hazards due to explosion
Explosion:
o Is rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an
extreme manner.
o Is a rapid expansion of gases resulting in a rapidly
moving pressure or shock wave.

o The expansion can be mechanical (by means of a


sudden rupture of a pressurized vessel), or it can be
the result of a rapid chemical reaction.
Cont…
o An explosion can occur without fire, such as the failure
through over-pressure of a steam boiler.

o The major distinction between fires and explosions is


the rate of energy release. Fires release energy slowly,
whereas explosions release energy rapidly, typically on
the order of microseconds. Fires can also result from
explosions, and explosions can result from fires.
Shock wave due to:

o expansion of gases by reaction

o Stoichiometric (change in number of moles)

o Thermal effects
Example
o A good example of how the energy release rate affects

the consequences of an accident is a standard

automobile tire.

o The compressed air within the tire contains energy. If

the energy is released slowly through the nozzle, the tire

is harmlessly deflated. If the tire ruptures suddenly and

all the energy within the compressed tire releases

rapidly, the result is a dangerous explosion.


Cont…
Explosions from combustion of flammable gas are of two
kinds.
The difference depends on whether the reaction front
propagates above or below the speed of sound in the
unreacted gases.
1. Detonations
o If the speed of wave moves faster than the speed of sound
in unreacted medium.
o Reaction is induced by a shock wave compressing and
heating the fuel
Cont…
Occurred by two mechanisms

1. Thermal mechanism: gas temperature increased by


reaction leading to self acceleration of the reaction rate.

2. Chain branching mechanism: increase in number of


reactive free radicals (lead to high reaction rate by an
elementary reaction).
Cont…
2. Deflagration

 If the pressure/ blast moves at a speed less than the speed


of sound in unreacted medium.

o Propagation mechanism is by heat transfer

 The energy from the reaction is transferred to the


unreacted mixture by heat conduction and molecular
diffusion

 Typically deflagrations propagate at speeds on the order


of 1-100m/s.
Cont…
Explosion types

Confined Unconfined
explosion explosion
1.Confined Explosion
o Explosion occurring within a confined space (vessel or
building), most common type of explosion

o The most common confined explosion scenario involves


explosive vapor and dust.

o Confined explosion depends on:

• Vessel size and shape

• Fuel air mixture ratio


Cont….
• Temperature and pressure

• Ignition source
2. Unconfined Explosion
o Occurs in the open: usually the result of a flammable
gas spill, gas is dispersed and mixed with air, contact
with ignition source.

o Rarer than confined, explosive material diluted below


LFL by wind dispersion.

o Very distractive since large quantities of gas and large


areas are involved.
Cont…
Explosions in the process industries include the

following types:

1. Vapor cloud explosions (VCE)

o Most dangerous, most frequent and destructive

explosions in the chemical process industries.


Cont…
These explosions occur in a sequence of steps:

o Sudden release of a large quantity of flammable vapor


(typically this occurs when a vessel, containing a
superheated and pressurized liquid, ruptures),

o Dispersion of the vapor throughout the plant site while


mixing with air,

o Ignition of the resulting vapor cloud.


Cont…
E.g. the accident at flixborough, England, is a classic
example of a VCE.

A sudden failure of a 20-inch cyclohexane line between


reactors led to vaporization of an estimated 30 tons of
cyclohexane. The vapor cloud dispersed throughout the
plant site and was ignited by an unknown source 45
seconds after the release. The entire plant site was leveled
and 28 people were killed.
cont…
Parameters affecting VCE

o Quantity of material released

o Fraction of material vaporize

o Probability of ignition of cloud

o Time delay before ignition of cloud

o Probability of explosion rather than fire.


Cont…
Control of VCE

o prevent the release of material


o Use analyzers to detect leaks at very low
concentrations
o Install automated block valves ( analyzers ) to shut
down the system when spill is incipient (in early stage)
2. Boiling liquid expansion vapor explosion
(BLEVE)
o Occurs when a tank containing a liquid held above its
atmospheric boiling point rupture leading to
vaporization of large fraction of tank contents.

o Sudden failure of container due to any cause,

o Release of large quantity of material.


Cont…

o BLEVE happen mostly fire adjacent to tank containing


liquid, fire heated the wall of the tank and increase the
liquid temperature and pressure; then loss mechanical
strength, rupture, explosively vaporizing contents.
3. Dust explosion
o This explosion results from the rapid combustion of
fine solid particles.

o Many solid materials become very flammable when


reduced to a fine powder.

o Industrial dusts like wood, coal, food (starch, flour,


sugar ), chemicals (drugs, dyestuffs) , plastics, metals
(Li, Mg, Al..)
Cont…
Dusts are formed by two methods:

1. By Condensation from vapors of materials which


condenses to form solid directly.

2. By mechanical size reduction of solid materials (most


common)

Occurrence of dust explosion

o Occur only if flammable dust is dispersed in air.


Factor affecting dust explosion
Chemical composition: nature of the dust particles
/suspended Groups such as COOH, OH, NH2, NO2 are
higher dust explosion capacity.

 Volatile mater in the dust tends to enhance dust


explosion e.g. coal mining.

Oxygen concentration: Dust explosion increase with


oxygen concentration ( refer elements of fire)
Cont…
Particle size: dust explosivibility strongly affected by
particle size
o Dust with particle size > 500µm unlikely for
explosion
o Dust with particle size < 50-75µm enhance
explosion
Moisture content:
o Greater than 30% moisture content unlikely to lead
explosion.
Cont…
o Prevention methods:

Inerting – process of adding an inert gas (N2, CO2) to a


combustible mixture to reduce the oxygen concentration
below MOC.
Explosion hazards
• Blast effect: Overpressures, collapse of the nearby
containers, damage to structure, equipment, and
vehicles, propagation of other explosions.

• Fragmentation effect: impact of pieces against


personnel, equipment and structures

o Dispersion of burning , combustible or corrosive


materials
General causes of explosions
o Inadvertent activation by electric current, heat,

electromagnetic radiation, lightning or other static

electricity.

o Warming a cryogenic liquid in a closed system

o Ignition of sensitive gases such as acetylene

o Contact between water or moisture and water-sensitive

materials such as Molten Na, or K , or Li:


Controls of explosion
o Limit quantities of materials

o Prevent combustible concentration

o Eliminate source of ignition

o Reduce oxygen

o Provide overpressure relief

o Install extinguishing and suppression systems

o Use distance and barriers

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