• Title/Summary/Keyword: Chemical accidents

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Study on the Illite Modification for Removal of Radioactive Cesium in Water Environment near Nuclear Facilities (원자력 시설 인근 수계에서 방사성 세슘 제거를 위한 일라이트 개질 연구)

  • Hwang, Jeonghwan;Choung, Sungwook;Shin, Woosik;Han, Weon Shik
    • Economic and Environmental Geology
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    • v.51 no.2
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    • pp.113-120
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    • 2018
  • Radioactive cesium($^{137}Cs$) can be released into the environment through severe nuclear accidents such as the Chernobyl and Fukushima, The $^{137}Cs$ is one of major monitoring radionuclides due to its chemical toxicity, ${\gamma}$ radiation and long half-life($t_{1/2}=30.2yrs$). It has been known well that illite adsorb selectively and strongly the cesium due to frayed edge sites. The quantity of the FES in the illite could be controlled by weathering processes. Therefore, this study was modified illite samples through artificial weathering in the laboratory to increase sorption efficiency for cesium. Abundant interlayer cations(i.e., K, Ca) were eluted within 1 day, while Si and Al were gradually released from the crystal structure. In addition, broad peaks of XRD indicated the occurrence of chemical weathering. The cesium sorption distribution coefficients increased up to approximately 2 times after the weathering. These results suggested that sorption capacity of illite could be enhanced for cesium through artificial weathering under low temperature.

A Study on the Safety Improvement in a Venting System from the HCl Release Accident of a Petrochemical Company (석유화학공장의 염화수소 누출사고를 통한 대기벤트 시스템의 안전성 향상 방안)

  • Ma, Byung-Chol;Lee, Keun-Won;Im, Ji-Pyo;Kim, Young-Chul
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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    • v.16 no.4
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    • pp.38-43
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    • 2012
  • The purpose of this study is to carry out the consequence analysis of an accident related to the release of Hydrogen chloride occurred in a petrochemical company in Korea and suggest the measures to prevent similar accidents from happening again. The total amount released through the safety valve of HCl Column was calculated based on the rated capacity of the safety valve, the ideal gas equation and mechanical energy balance, respectively. As a result of the calculation, we found that the amount of HCl released through the safety valve was at least 76.8 kg. Also, we predicted the dispersion concentration at the position of the injured workers(more than 350 m away from the accident location) using simulation programs such as PHAST. The results of ALOHA and K-CARM are 304 ppm and 1,700 ppm respectively. However, PHAST calculation indicated that the concentration is less than l ppm. From these results, we can understand that workers were injured by HCl gas released from the safe valve and the concentration of gas might be less than 1 ppm. Also, it is important for toxic gases such as HCl to be vented safely to the atmosphere after scrubbing.

Experimental Study on the Changes in the Oxygen Concentration and the Pressure at Temperature of 200 ℃ for the Assessment of the Risks of Fire and Explosion of Propylene (프로필렌의 화재 및 폭발 위험성 평가를 위한 온도 200 ℃에서 산소농도와 압력의 변화에 따른 실험적 연구)

  • Choi, Yu-Jung;Choi, Jae-Wook
    • Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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    • v.58 no.3
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    • pp.356-361
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    • 2020
  • Propylene is widely used in petrochemical manufacturing at over 200 ℃. However, since propylene is a flammable gas with fire and explosion risks, inert nitrogen is injected to prevent them. In this study, experiments were conducted using propylene-nitrogen-oxygen upon pressure changes at 200 ℃. At 21% oxygen, as pressure increased from 0.10 MPa to 0.25 MPa, lower explosion limit (LEL) decreased from 2.2% to 1.9% while upper explosion limit (UEL) increased from 14.8% to 17.6%. In addition, minimum oxygen concentration (MOC) decreased from 10.3% to 10.0%, indicating higher risks with the expanded explosive range as pressure increased. With increase of pressure from 0.10 MPa to 0.25 MPa, explosion pressure increased from 1.84 MPa to 6.04 MPa, and the rate of rise of maximum explosion pressure increased drastically from 90 MPa/s to 298 MPa/s. It is hoped that these results can be used as basic data to prevent accidents in factories using propylene.

The Research of Process High Alarm Priority Analysis for Efficient Emergency Response (효율적인 비상대응을 위한 Process High Alarm의 Priority 분석)

  • Kim, Youngse;Cho, Gyusun;Jun, Jinwoo;Kim, Byungjick;Lee, Joonwon;Park, Kyoshik
    • Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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    • v.58 no.4
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    • pp.604-609
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    • 2020
  • The purpose of this study is to check the priority control status of the current operation process alarm by comparing the priority of the alarm set up in PV high trip point, which is being installed and operated in the domestic petrochemical industry, with the criteria presented in ISA 18.2 International Standard or EEMUA 191 Guidelines. In the event of a process problem, excessively set high alarm is provided to the driver in a short period of time, making it difficult to identify the alarm that needs to be handled first. As a result, it is likely that the operator will not be able to carry out appropriate actions within the specified time frame, and many cases have been reported leading to unexpected process shutdowns or process accidents. Therefore, this study aims to introduce international standards related to alarm management and identify the level of alarm control used at the domestic petrochemical industry site to inform potential risks that may occur in the petrochemical process of the national industrial complex in the future and suggest ways to reduce risk factors. This paper was submitted to Professor Lee Inbeom's retirement anniversary issue.

Development of response terms for contaminant transport in two-dimensional model for mixing analysis of toxic chemicals in rivers (하천에 유입된 유해화학물질의 혼합 해석을 위한 2차원 오염물질 이동모형 반응항 개발)

  • Shin, Dongbin;Shin, Jaehyun;Seo, Il Won
    • Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
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    • v.53 no.2
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    • pp.141-154
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    • 2020
  • The accidents of toxic chemical spill into rivers are increasing in recent years due to expansion of heavy industries in Korea. In order to respond to the chemical spills, accident response systems have been established for both main rivers and tributary rivers. However, since these accident response system adopted the water quality models imported from the foreign countries, it is difficult to acquire the model parameters and to calibrate and validate the water quality models. Therefore, this study developed a depth-averaged two-dimensional river water quality model to analyze the behavior of hazardous chemicals in rivers and proposed an efficient simulation execution framework by identifying the significant reaction mechanisms considering the characteristics of the toxic chemicals. The depth-averaged two-dimensional river water quality model CTM-2D was upgraded by adding reaction terms representing mechanisms of the adsorption, desorption, and volatilization of toxic chemicals. In order to verify the model, the analytical solution was compared with the numerical solution, and results showed that the error was less than 0.1%. In addition, the model was applied to a virtual scenario which is a water pollution accident at the confluence of the Nakdong River - Kumho River, and model results showed that an efficient simulation could be carried out by activating only significant reactions which were assessed by the sensitivity analysis.

A Comparative Study on the Application of RISP in the Context of Risk Types -Focusing on Typhoon and Hydrofluoric Acid Spill Risks (위험 유형에 따른 위험 정보 탐색과 처리 과정 연구 -불산 유출과 태풍 관련 위험 상황 비교 중심)

  • Huh, Seohyeon;Kim, Yungwook
    • Korean journal of communication and information
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    • v.70
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    • pp.246-276
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    • 2015
  • From a historical perspective of risk communication, risks can be classified by their associated level of responsibility. In the case of technical risks such as hazardous chemical accidents, people perceive that risk-related organizations have a high level of responsibility; however, they do not in traditional risks such as natural disasters. This study aims to examine risk information seeking and processing, as seen in two types of risk, based on the Risk Information Seeking and Processing(RISP) model. For this purpose, hypotheses and a research question are developed with current domestic risk issues, and the results show significant differences in risk information seeking and processing between the two types of risk. Specifically, in the case of the chemical spill accident, negative emotion against relevant institutions makes different information seeking and processing compared to the natural disaster. The low level responsibility risk such as typhoon comparatively follows the flow of the original RISP model. However, the high level responsibility risk such as the hydrofluoric acid spill did not match with the RISP model. Based on the research results, theoretical implications were discussed.

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Studies on the Press Drying and the Chemical Absorption of the Plywood Treated with Diammonium Phosphate (제2인산(第2燐酸)암모늄 처리합판(處理合板)의 약제흡수(藥劑吸收) 및 열판건조(熱板乾燥)에 관(關)한 연구(硏究))

  • Kim, Jong-Man
    • Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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    • v.23 no.4
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    • pp.39-45
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    • 1995
  • The plywoods commonly used as decorative interior materials for the construction are inflammable and so it is a causative factor for making fire accidents, resulting in the destruction of human life and personal properties. Indeed, it is, therefore, required to produce fire-retardant plywoods. In this study, a special grade of defect-free, Kapur plywood was used. Specimens were cut into 3- by 20cm dimensions from 120- by 240- by 0.33-cm panels(thin panel) or 120- by 240- by 0.5-cm panels(thick panel). Some specimens were treated with diammonium phosphate(DAP), but some were not treated with diammonium phosphate to use as control panels. Chemical absorption, drying curves, drying rates and dynamic Young's modulus were investigated. The results were summaries as follows; 1. The specimens were soaked into 19% diammonium phosphate solution by a full cell pressure process and the diammonium phosphate retained in the thin and thick plywoods was 1.409kg/$(30cm)^3$, 1.487kg/$(30cm)^3$, respectively. 2. Diammonium phosphate-treated plywoods were redried with press-drying process at one of either condition dried on the platen($115^{\circ}C$) for a period of time or dried on the platen($50^{\circ}C$) for 3 hrs plus in a dry-oven($30^{\circ}C$) for 24 hrs. or dried on the platen($60^{\circ}C$) for 2 hrs plus in a dry-oven($30^{\circ}C$) for 24 hrs. The drying rate of treated thin specimens dried at $60^{\circ}C$ plus $30^{\circ}C$ and $115^{\circ}C$ only was found to be 0.04 %/min. and 8.53 %/min. Similarly, the drying rate of treated thick specimens were 0.03 %/min. and 6.77 %/min. respectively. 3. It was evident that highly-significantly different drying rate of treated plywoods was observed between plywood thicknesses and platen temperatures and the rate was increased by elevating the platen temperature up to $115^{\circ}C$. Based on the two-way variance analysis, highly significant drying rate was observed from the interaction between plywood thicknesses and platen temperatures. 4. After redrying, the specimens were weighed and reconditioned to a constant weight in a facility maintained temperature ($20^{\circ}C$) and relative humidity(65%) prior to test dynamic Young's modulus. The test revealed that the thin specimens dried at the platen temperature of $50^{\circ}C$, $60^{\circ}C$, $115^{\circ}C$ and untreated specimens showed 1.070E+09 dyne/$cm^2$, 1.156E+09 dyne/$cm^2$, 1.243E+09 dyne/$cm^2$, and 1.052E+09 dyne/$cm^2$, respectively. Likewise, the thick specimens revealed 5.647E+09 dyne/$cm^2$ 5.670E+09 dyne/$cm^2$, 6.395E+09 dyne/$cm^2$ and 5.415E+09 dyne/$cm^2$, respectively. 5. It was evident that significantly different dynamic Young's modulus was observed between the plywood thickness and the platen temperature, but not in the two-way interaction between the plywood thickness${\times}$the platen temperature.

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Comprehensive Analysis of Exposed Adverse Factors in Disaster Response Activities - Focused on Fire - (재난 대응 활동 시 노출가능 유해인자 종합분석 -화재 현장을 중심으로-)

  • Park, Chanseok
    • Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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    • v.10 no.3
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    • pp.420-430
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    • 2014
  • Firefighters performing disaster response activities such as Fire Suppression Rescue First Aid in fire are being exposed in various adverse factors, heat, smoke, toxic gases, emotional stress, biological toxic factors and physical overload by unnatural ergonomic posture required for firefighters. But so far, there is the study for this problem only separately. There is no study about comprehesive analysis of exposed adverse factors in fire-related disaster response activities and countermeasures. The purpose of this study is to contiribute to solving the health problems and prevention of accidents of firefighters by extracting hazardous agents in disaster such as fire and by proposing countermeasures. After analyzing circumstances such as fire-suppression, rescue first aid and life-environment, exposure factors of fire are derived and exposure status is suggested according to physical chemical biological psychological aspects. The countermeasure against the noise of the physical exposure factors are proposed. The countermeasures such as protective equipment and clean room in chemical factors, infection prevention education, vaccination and periodic check system in biological factors, PTSD alleviation booth and mentoring in psychological factors are proposed.

Characterization of Secondary Exposure to Chemicals and Indoor Air Quality in Fire Station (소방서 실내공간의 화학적 유해인자 2차노출과 실내공기질 특성)

  • Kim, Soo Jin;Ham, Seunghon;Jeon, Jeong Seok;Kim, Won
    • Fire Science and Engineering
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.140-151
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    • 2019
  • It is to assess the indoor air quality of the chemical hazardous materials exposed to the fire after firefighters returned to the fire scene. The research subject randomly selected four fire stations located in Seoul, Korea. Two fire stations were set up as control groups after the return of the firefighting activities at the actual fire scene, and two other fire stations were set up as control groups to measure the air quality of the room at normal levels regardless of the action. We conducted 24-hour monitoring for all fire accidents that occurred in Seoul Metropolitan using fire safety map computer system. Also, indoor air quality was measured immediately after homecoming if the experiment group was to be dispatched due to an accident of intermediate or larger scale. 11 hazardous substance items such as fine dust, formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds, PAH, VCM, acidity, asbestos, CO2, NO2, O3 were measured according to the process test method. Three of 11 types of harmful substances exceeded domestic and foreign standards, and one of them was found to be close to foreign standards. In particular, total volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide and sulfuric acids were 2.5 times, 2.2 times and 1.1 times higher than the standard. Also, for formaldehyde and sulfuric acid, it was measured higher in the control group than in the case group. This findings could be used in policies to improve indoor air quality in the fire station of the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Study on Consideration of Artificial Rain Technology in Aspect of National Security (국가안보측면으로서의 인공강우기술 고찰)

  • Choi, Kee-Nam;Lee, Sun-Je
    • Convergence Security Journal
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.99-106
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    • 2012
  • March 11, 2010, in Japan located over East Sea of Korea, due to the strong earthquake tsunami, Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant was ceased and exploded resulting in leaking radioactive substances. Even though it was an accident happened in a nation, leaked radioactive substances were spread across the world moving along ocean currents and air current. Our nation also had terror and confusion about radioactive rain after the accident, and even though a year has been passed by after the accident, the problem on the radioactive contamination isn't solved. So to speak, nuclear accident of neighboring country is a threat to our nation but not only Japan but also Chinese ocean across the West Sea has nuclear power plants. Beside threat of nuclear accident of neighboring countries, North Korea in military confrontation is the world 3rd country holding chemical and biological weapons and can spray the biological weapons to South Korea at any time like Yeonpyeong-do bombard provocation in November, 2010. The study is the strategy confronting such threats and grafted artificial rain technology which is weather control technology. Since radioactive substances on radioactive accidents and North Korean biological weapons can differ in the density by the weather condition, only artificial rain technology can remove the threat perfectly but it is worth to try as the method to reduce damage and in the aspect of psychology. To use the artificial rain technology in the aspect of national security to acquire the public safety, research institutes such ADD should fulfill active and symbolic technology research development.