{"title":"Risk Assessment of Ammonia Fueled Ships: Consequences on Human Health of Ammonia Releases from Damaged Fuel Storage Tanks","authors":"Benedetta Masia, Ming Yang, Valerio Cozzani","doi":"10.1021/acs.chas.4c00044","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Ammonia is a promising fuel for decarbonizing the shipping industry, but its safety compared to traditional maritime fossil fuels remains questionable. As more projects explore ammonia-fueled vessels, safety concerns, particularly the acute toxicity and risks of ammonia release, are paramount. This research focused on the effects of accidental ammonia releases during ship-to-ship collisions, affecting ammonia tank integrity. We examined various release scenarios, considering factors like tank types and locations, breach sizes and positions, weather conditions, and dispersion patterns, using PHAST software for modeling. Results indicated that semipressurized tanks pose greater health risks on human health than fully refrigerated ones. Underwater releases are less hazardous, as a significant amount of ammonia dissolves before surfacing. Mitigation efforts, such as water curtains and containment basins, were evaluated for their effectiveness in minimizing the impact of ammonia releases. These measures significantly reduce risks to nearby populations but are less effective for crew safety onboard. This underscores the challenge of ensuring onboard safety in ammonia-fueled vessels, highlighting the need for innovative and effective safety design.","PeriodicalId":12,"journal":{"name":"ACS Chemical Health & Safety","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"ACS Chemical Health & Safety","FirstCategoryId":"1","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chas.4c00044","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Ammonia is a promising fuel for decarbonizing the shipping industry, but its safety compared to traditional maritime fossil fuels remains questionable. As more projects explore ammonia-fueled vessels, safety concerns, particularly the acute toxicity and risks of ammonia release, are paramount. This research focused on the effects of accidental ammonia releases during ship-to-ship collisions, affecting ammonia tank integrity. We examined various release scenarios, considering factors like tank types and locations, breach sizes and positions, weather conditions, and dispersion patterns, using PHAST software for modeling. Results indicated that semipressurized tanks pose greater health risks on human health than fully refrigerated ones. Underwater releases are less hazardous, as a significant amount of ammonia dissolves before surfacing. Mitigation efforts, such as water curtains and containment basins, were evaluated for their effectiveness in minimizing the impact of ammonia releases. These measures significantly reduce risks to nearby populations but are less effective for crew safety onboard. This underscores the challenge of ensuring onboard safety in ammonia-fueled vessels, highlighting the need for innovative and effective safety design.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Chemical Health and Safety focuses on news, information, and ideas relating to issues and advances in chemical health and safety. The Journal of Chemical Health and Safety covers up-to-the minute, in-depth views of safety issues ranging from OSHA and EPA regulations to the safe handling of hazardous waste, from the latest innovations in effective chemical hygiene practices to the courts'' most recent rulings on safety-related lawsuits. The Journal of Chemical Health and Safety presents real-world information that health, safety and environmental professionals and others responsible for the safety of their workplaces can put to use right away, identifying potential and developing safety concerns before they do real harm.