• Title/Summary/Keyword: Chemical Accidents

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Method to Derive the Optimal Vent Position when Flammable Liquid Leaks Based on CFD (CFD 기반 인화성 액체 누출 시 최적의 환기구 배치 도출 방안)

  • Eun-Hee Kim;Seung-Hyo An;Jun-Seo Lee;Byung-Chol Ma
    • 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.

Studies on Press Drying of Fire-Retardant Treated Plywood (내화처리합판(耐火處理合板)의 열판건조(熱板乾燥)에 관(關)한 연구(硏究))

  • Kim, Jong Man
    • Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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    • v.56 no.1
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    • pp.1-25
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    • 1982
  • Plywood used for construction as a decorative inner material is inflammable and can cause fire accidents. causing destruction of human life and property. To diminish the fire disaster, fire retardant plywood is indeed required. In the methods of manufacturing the fire retardant plywood, a soaking method is occasionally used. However after soaking plywood into fire retardant chemical solutions redrying of soaked plywood is of the utmost importance. In this study 3.5mm and 5.0mm thickness plywoods were selected for fire retardant treatment. Treating solutions were prepared for 20% dilute solutions of ammonium sulfate, monoammonium phosphate, diammonium phosphate, borax-boric acid minalith, and water solution, 1-, 3-, 6-, and 9 hour-soaking treatments in borax-boric acid and minalith, and 6- and 9 hours in the other chemicals were applied and after the treatment hot drying was applied to treated plywoods at $90^{\circ}C$, $120^{\circ}C$ and $150^{\circ}C$ of press temperature. Drying rates, drying curves, water absorption rates of fire retardant chemicals, weight per volume and fire retardant degree of plywood were investigated. The results may be summarized as follows: 1) In the 9 hours-soaking treatment of fire retardants by hot and cold bath method, the chemical retentions of 3.5mm thickness plywood could be attained within the range ($1.125-2.25kg/(30cm)^3$) of minimum retention specification as follows: $1.353kg/(30cm)^3$ in monoammonium phosphate, $1.331kg/(30cm)^3$ in diammonium phosphate, $1.263kg/(30cm)^3$ in ammonium sulfate, $1.226kg/(30cm)^3$ in borax-boric acid. But the chemical retention, $0.906kg/(30cm)^3$, in minalith could not be attained within the range of minimum retention specification. And also in case of 5.0mm thickness plywood, chemical retentions, as $1.356kg/(30cm)^3$ and $1.166kg/(30cm)^3$ respectively, of ammonium sulfate and diammonium phosphate could be attained within the range minimum retention specification, but the other fire retardant chemicals could not. 2) In the 6- and - hours-soaking treatments of 3.5mm and 5.0mm thickness plywood, the drying curve sloped of chemical treated plywood was smaller than that of water treated. The drying rate related to thickness of treated plywood, was about three times as fast in 3.5mm thickness plywood compared with 5.0mm thickness plywood. 3) In the treatment at $120^{\circ}C$ of hot platen temperature, the drying rates of chemical-treated plywood showed the highest quantity in diammonium phosphate of 3.5mm and 5.0mm thickness plywood. But the drying rate of water treated plywood was highest during the 6- and 9 hours-soaking treatments. 4) The drying rate remarkably increased with proportion to increase of the platen temperature, and the values were respectively 1.23%/min., 6.54%/min., 25.75%/min. in hot platen temperature of $90^{\circ}C$, $120^{\circ}C$, $150^{\circ}C$ in 3.5mm thickness plywood and 0.55%.min., 2.49%/min., 8.19%/min. in hot platen temperature of $90^{\circ}C$, $120^{\circ}C$, $150^{\circ}C$ in 5.0mm thickness plywood. 5) In the fire retardant degree of chemical treated plywood, the loss in weight was the smallest in diammonium phosphate, next was in monoammonium phosphate and ammonium sulfate, and the greatest was in borax-boric acid and minalith. And the fire-retardant effect in burning time, flame-exhausted time and carbonized area were greatest in diammouniun phosphate, next were in monoammonium phosphate and ammonium sulfate, and the weakest were in borax-boric acid and minalith.

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BTEX Exposure and its Health Effects in Pregnant Women Following the Hebei Spirit Oil Spill (허베이 스피릿호 유류유출사고 지역 산모의 BTEX 노출과 건강영향)

  • Kim, Byung-Mi;Park, Eun-Kyo;LeeAn, So-Young;Ha, Mi-Na;Kim, Eun-Jung;Kwon, Ho-Jang;Hong, Yun-Chul;Jeong, Woo-Chul;Hur, Jong-Il;Cheong, Hae-Kwan;Yi, Jong-Heop;Kim, Jong-Ho;Lee, Bo-Eun;Seo, Ju-Hee;Chang, Moon-Hee;Ha, Eun-Hee
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.96-103
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    • 2009
  • Objectives : We evaluated the health effects of exposure to BTEX(Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, m,p-Xylene, o-Xylene) in the Taean area after the Hebei Spirit oil spill. Methods : We used a questionnaire survey to look for health effects among 80 pregnant women 2 to 3 months following the Hebei Spirit oil spill. Their BTEX exposures were estimated using the CALPUFF method. We then used a multiple logistic regression analysis to evaluate the effects of BTEX exposure on the women s health effets. Results : Pregnant women who lived near the accident site reported more symptoms of eye irritation and headache than those who lived farther from the site. There was a trend of decreasing symptoms with an increase in distance from the spill site. Pregnant women exposed to higher ambient cumulative levels of Xylene were significantly more likely to report symptoms of the skin(OR 8.01 95% CI=1.74-36.76) in the first day after the accident and significantly more likely to report abdominal pain(OR 3.86 95% CI=1.02-14.59 for Ethylbenzene, OR 6.70 95% CI=1.82-24.62 for Xylene) during the 1st through 4th days following the accident. Conclusions : This study suggests that exposure to BTEX from an oil spill is correlated with an increased risk of health effects among pregnant women. This implies the need to take proper measures, including the development of a national policy for environmental health emergencies and a plan for studying the short- and long-term chronic health effects associated with such spills.

Protective Effects of Chemical Drugs on the Course of Uranium-induced Acute Renal Failure (우라늄오염에 의한 신부전증에 미치는 제염제의 방호효과)

  • Kim, Tae-Hwan;Chung, In-Yong;Kim, Sung-Ho;Kim, Kyeng-Jung;Bang, Hyo-Chang;Yoo, Seong-Yul;Chin, Soo-Yil
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.27-39
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    • 1990
  • Appreciable radiation exposures certainly were occurred in the reactor burn-up, the nuelear fall-out and the surroundings of nuclear installations with radioactive effluents. Therefore, radioactive nuclides is not only potentially hazardous to workers of nuclear power plants and related industrials, but also the wokers who handle radioactive nuclides in biochemical research and nuclear medicine diagnostics. And in the case of occurring the nuclear accidents, the early medical treatment of radiation injury should be necessary but little is established medical procedures to decontaminate the victims of internal contamination of radioactive nuclides in korea. Accordingly, to achieve the basic data for protective roles and medical treatment of radiation injury, the present studies were carrid out to evaluate the decontamination of uranium by the chemical drugs. The results observed were summarized as follows: 1. The combined treatmet group of sodium bicarbonate and saline with uranyl nitrate injection simultaneously and the dithiothreitol group that was administered 30 minutes after uranyl nitrate injection were increased significantly in the change of body weight than uranyl nitrate-only group (P<0.005). 2. All the experimental groups were increased the fluid intake and urine volume on the uranyl nitrate-induced acute renal failure. but the combined treatment group of sodium bicarbonate and saline with uranyl nitrate injection simultaneously and the dithiothreitol group that was administered 30 minutes after uranyl nitrate injection have the higher increment of fluid intake and urine volume (P<0.05). 3. When sodium bicarbonate and saline was treated with uranyl nitrate injection simultaneously. and dithiothreitol was administered 30 minutes after uranyl nitrate injection. there was significantly reduced in BUN concentration (P<0.01). 4. When dithiothreitol was administered 30 minutes after uranyl nitrate injection. there was reduced more significantly on the increment of serum creatinine concentration than that observed in uranyl nitrate-only group(P<0.01). but when the combined treatment of sodium bicarbonate and saline with uranyl nitrate simultaneously, there was still. albeit much less marked. decrease in serum creatinine concentration. 5. The sodium bicarbonate and saline was treated with uranyl nitrate simultaneously and dithiothreitol was administered at 30 minutes after uranyl nitrate were excreted markedly higher urine creatinine concentration than the uranyl nitrate-only group. 6. Uranyl nitrate has been used in experimental animals to produce hydropic degeneration and swelling of proximal tubules, disappearance of microvilli and brush border or necrosis in the kidney and centrilobular necrosis, congestion, and telangiectasia of the liver. When the sodium bicarbonate and saline was treated with uranyl nitrate simultaneously, and dithiothreitol was administered. 30 minutes after uranyl nitrate, there was more marked the protective effect than uranyl nitrate-only group. Finally, if the sodium bicarbonate and saline may administered as quickly as possible each time that some risk for internal contamination, with uranium, and dithiothreitol is administered 30 minutes after uranium contamination, there ameliorates the course of uranyl nitrate-induced acute renal failure.and this effect is assocciated with prevention of uranium (heavy metal)-induced alterations in BUN, serum creatinine, urine creatinine, fluid intake, urine volume and body weight.

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Rapid Detection of Radioactive Strontium in Water Samples Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)를 이용한 방사성 스트론튬 오염물질에 대한 신속한 모니터링 기술)

  • Park, Jin-young;Kim, Hyun-a;Park, Kihong;Kim, Kyoung-woong
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.50 no.5
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    • pp.341-352
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    • 2017
  • Along with Cs-137 (half-life: 30.17 years), Sr-90 (half-life: 28.8 years) is one of the most important environmental monitoring radioactive elements. Rapid and easy monitoring method for Sr-90 using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) has been studied. Strontium belongs to a bivalent alkaline earth metal such as calcium and has similar electron arrangement and size. Due to these similar chemical properties, it can easily enter into the human body through the food chain via water, soil, and crops when leaked into the environment. In addition, it is immersed into the bone at the case of human influx and causes the toxicity for a long time (biological half-life: about 50 years). It is a very reductive and related with the specific reaction that makes wet analysis difficult. In particular, radioactive strontium should be monitored by nuclear power plants but it is very difficult to be analysed from high-cost problems as well as low accuracy of analysis due to complicated analysis procedures, expensive analysis equipment, and a pretreatment process of using massive chemicals. Therefore, we introduce the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) analysis method that analyzes the elements in the sample using the inherent spectrum by generating plasma on the sample using pulse energy, and it can be analyzed in a few seconds without preprocessing. A variety of analytical plates for samples were developed to improve the analytical sensitivity by optimizing the laser, wavelength, and time resolution. This can be effectively applied to real-time monitoring of radioactive wastewater discharged from a nuclear power plant, and furthermore, it can be applied as an emergency monitoring means such as possible future accidents at a nuclear power plants.

A Study on the Treatment of Toxic Chemicals of Maritime University Cadets (해양계대학교 실습해기사들의 유해화학물질 취급에 관한 연구)

  • Im, Myeong-Hwan;Sin, Ho-Sig;Kim, Hong-Ryeol;Lim, Geung-Su
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.31-36
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    • 2013
  • Maritime University cadets must be on board ship's after thoroughly completing a Basic Safety Training Course. During their spare semester they must complete basic principle of the course and then, attend to both Advanced Safety Training Course and Tankers Training Course before they graduate. However, all cadets are exposed to risks during their onboard training. It means that most of commercial ships have to train them before boarding and perform duties according to all sorts of check lists based on the ISM. Accordingly, this research will deal with the treatment for toxic chemicals which is not fully covered by shipping firms, vessels and even a Maritime University for cadets. The lack of pre-knowledge about it is considerably hazardous to the cadets who have no onboard experience. As stated above, the majority of the onboard cadets board their ships without previous training on treatment and knowledge for toxic chemicals. As a result, there are some cases that cadets are injured due to the lack of knowledge to treat toxic chemicals and due to carelessness. Furthermore, they end up leaving a ship prematurely. To prevent these incidents from occurring, this paper recommends thorough training before going onboard provided by Maritime University, the systematic database on the safety of the toxic chemicals and the development of the online contents for safety education of toxic chemicals fitted on each ship's types are necessary to avoid risks and accidents onboard. Furthermore, it is suggested that shipping companies should manage the ship according to the safety check list on toxic chemicals and the crew in charge with qualification for the treatment of toxic chemicals should provide a safety education and supervision.

Analysis of the Operation Status and Function based on the Overseas Accident Investigation Agency (국외 재난원인조사기구의 운영 현황 및 기능분석)

  • Lee, Kyung-Su;Yang, Seung-Ho;Kim, Yeon-Ju;Park, Jihye;Kim, Tai-Hoon;Kim, Hyunju
    • Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.442-453
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    • 2021
  • Purpose: The objective of this study is to suggest desirable direction of Korean accident investigation organization by analyzing the operation status and way of overseas developed countries' investigation agency. Method: To accomplish the objective of this study, we were examined four main characteristics of accident investigation agencies of the U.S., Japan, and Sweden, focusing on (1); the background of the establishment, (2);organizational structure, (3);major tasks and functions, (4); accident investigation procedures. Result: First, the purpose of its establishment and task is to prevent recurrence of disasters and accidents, at the same time, administrating and researching duties such as legal system, policy, recommending improvement and conducting scientific disaster-cause analysis to contribute safety for the government. Second, it is operated as an independent organization under the president, not belonging to the ministry, in order to enable fair investigation in an impartial position. Third, it has the authority to be recognized for its expertise in the results of investigation. In other words, it is operated as a permanent organization with professional personnel, and secures authority through the accident research with indepth investigation and high-quality recommendations. Conclusion: The overseas investigation agencies rapidly manage and coordinate their operational practices in order to resolve national requirements and social conflicts with fairness, accuracy and expertise in accident investigations. In order to prevent the recurrence of similar events, Korea needs to efficiently reconstruct its investigative functions distributed by each government department. In addition, institutional improvement is needed to make general adjustments at the national level, organize and operate control tower for when the accident has happened.