Safety risk modelling and major accidents analysis of propane storage tank in the petrochemical industry - A case study

Chemical accidents such as Fire and explosion are accidents which potentially can occur in oil and gas processing facilities. This paper discusses the importance of consequence modelling in chemical plants. They can cause personal injury, financial loss and adverse environmental impacts, and even fatality of humans. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and analyze the consequence of major accidents of a case study in a propane storage tank in the port of Bandar Imam (Iran) using extensions of models in the consequence modelling package Phast. Consequence modelling software is for accidental releases of flammable or toxic chemicals to the atmosphere includes discharge modelling, atmospheric dispersion modelling and evaluation of flammable and toxic effects. Phast examines the progress of a potential incident from the initial release to the far-field dispersion including the modelling of a rainout and subsequent vaporisation. This software calculates material evaporation, compute concentration levels, assessed the radiation level, and overpressure wave of the explosion and the number of deaths. In this work, three possible failure scenarios were studied including (a) leakage from the loading line, (b) leakage from the outlet line, (c) rupture in the propane storage tank in order to model the incidents. Finally, the essential and important recommendations including minimum safe distance from the rupture center for different types of fire were provided.