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Lessons Learnt from Recent Explosions in Storage Facilities with Ammonium Nitrate
Recent events around the world pertaining to explosions due to mishandling and improper storage of hazardous materials such as ammonium nitrate have highlighted the vitality of understanding how to handle explosive material appropriately. One major drawback in order to better understand such explosions is either the contradicting reports that emerge regarding its technical details or in some cases the absence of reliable information. An accurate definition of the source and quantity of explosions is critical towards using such incidents to be better prepared for future events. Hence, firstly, this project aims to study three explosion events of ammonium nitrate storage facilities, namely Beirut-Lebanon in 2020, Tianjin-China in 2015 and Oppau-Germany in 1921, where the incidents are listed in the reducing order of the availability of technical information. Each case was analysed by calculating the upper and lower limit for the quantity of explosives by considering the available information. Moreover, heat maps were developed to illustrate the variation of pressure in the areas surrounding the storage facilities. The second aim of this study is to provide a preliminary analysis related to separation distances between storage facilities and populated areas, where the ammonium nitrate storage facility in Newcastle, Australia, is used a case study. To this end, a major knowledge gap is the absence of regulations regarding appropriate separation distances between stores of ammonium nitrate over 500 tonnes and populated areas. This aspect is studied using the aforementioned incidents, where the pressure estimation developed under the first aim was used to determine separation distances. It was identified that the existing separation distances between the Newcastle storage facility and its surrounding residencies are inadequate to prevent damage in the event of an explosion. Overall, the present study provides a reasonable preliminary approach to analyse possible threats due to the explosion of storage facilities.
Lessons Learnt from Recent Explosions in Storage Facilities with Ammonium Nitrate
Recent events around the world pertaining to explosions due to mishandling and improper storage of hazardous materials such as ammonium nitrate have highlighted the vitality of understanding how to handle explosive material appropriately. One major drawback in order to better understand such explosions is either the contradicting reports that emerge regarding its technical details or in some cases the absence of reliable information. An accurate definition of the source and quantity of explosions is critical towards using such incidents to be better prepared for future events. Hence, firstly, this project aims to study three explosion events of ammonium nitrate storage facilities, namely Beirut-Lebanon in 2020, Tianjin-China in 2015 and Oppau-Germany in 1921, where the incidents are listed in the reducing order of the availability of technical information. Each case was analysed by calculating the upper and lower limit for the quantity of explosives by considering the available information. Moreover, heat maps were developed to illustrate the variation of pressure in the areas surrounding the storage facilities. The second aim of this study is to provide a preliminary analysis related to separation distances between storage facilities and populated areas, where the ammonium nitrate storage facility in Newcastle, Australia, is used a case study. To this end, a major knowledge gap is the absence of regulations regarding appropriate separation distances between stores of ammonium nitrate over 500 tonnes and populated areas. This aspect is studied using the aforementioned incidents, where the pressure estimation developed under the first aim was used to determine separation distances. It was identified that the existing separation distances between the Newcastle storage facility and its surrounding residencies are inadequate to prevent damage in the event of an explosion. Overall, the present study provides a reasonable preliminary approach to analyse possible threats due to the explosion of storage facilities.
Lessons Learnt from Recent Explosions in Storage Facilities with Ammonium Nitrate
Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering
Dissanayake, Ranjith (editor) / Mendis, Priyan (editor) / Weerasekera, Kolita (editor) / De Silva, Sudhira (editor) / Fernando, Shiromal (editor) / Konthesingha, Chaminda (editor) / Fernando, P. L. N. (author) / Attard, C. (author) / Wijesooriya, K. (author) / Mohotti, D. (author)
12th International Conference on Structural Engineering and Construction Management ; Chapter: 8 ; 113-123
2022-09-29
11 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
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