CHAPTER 5

Toxic Release
and
Dispersion Models

Chapter Outline

„ Introduction
„ Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models
„ Pasquill--Gifford Model
Pasquill
„ Toxic Effect Criteria
„ Release Mitigation

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 Instructional Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, students should be able to

do the following:

ƒ Identify release incident

ƒ Develop source model to describe how materials are
released and rate of release
ƒ Estimate downwind concentrations of toxic material
using dispersion model
ƒ Predict impact/effect due to the released of materials

Introduction

„ Toxic release model represents first 3 steps in consequence

modeling procedure:

1. Identifying release incident (what process situations can

lead to a release?)
2. developing source model to describe how materials are
released and rate of release
3. estimating downwind concentrations of toxic material
using dispersion model (once downwind concentrations
known, several criteria available to estimate impact @
effect)
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 Introduction

Based on the predictions of toxic release, the following

options can be done for performing release mitigation:

„ Emergency response plan

„ Engineering modification of the process plant
„ Adding appropriate monitoring and preventing system
to eliminate risk of the release materials

Introduction

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 Introduction

Introduction
„ Two ways the release of toxic materials can be carried away by
the wind – characteristic plume or a puff
„ Parameters affecting atmospheric dispersion of toxic materials:

• wind speed
„ As the wind speed increases, the plume becomes longer and
narrower
• atmospheric stability
„ During the day the air temperature decreases rapidly with the
height
„ At night the air temperature decrease is less

„ Classified
Cl ifi d tto th
three stability
t bilit classes:
l unstable,
t bl neutral,
t l stable
t bl
• Unstable – the sun heats the ground faster than the heat can
be removed so that the air temperature near the ground is
higher than the temperature at higher elevation
• Neutral – the air above the ground warms and the wind speed
increases
• Stable – the sun cannot heat the ground as fast as the ground 8

cools; the air of higher density is below air of lower density

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• ground conditions (buildings, water, trees)
„ Affect the mechanical mixing at the surface and the
wind profile with height
„ Trees and buildings increase mixing

• height
h i ht off release
l above
b groundd llevell
„ As the release height increases, the ground level
concentrations are reduced
• momentum and buoyancy of initial material released
„ Change the effective height of the release.

„ The momentum of a high high--velocity jet will carry the gas

higher
g than the p
point of release,, resulting
g much
higher effective release height.

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 13

Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models

„ C b
Can be used
d tto estimate
ti t ththe concentrations
t ti d
downwindi d off a
release in which the gas is mixed with fresh air to the point
that the resulting mixture is neutrally buoyant
„ The models apply to gases at low concentrations, typically
in ppm range.
„ Two types models; plume and puff

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X =downwind,
Y =crosswind,

Z =vertical) 15

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 Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models
Case 1: Steady
Steady--state continuous point release with no wind

Eddy diffusion or
eddy dispersion or
turbulent diffusion is
any diffusion process
by which substances
are mixed in the
atmosphere

Equation 5-15 is transformed to rectangular coordinates to yield

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Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models

Case 2: Puff with no wind

spherical coordinates

and in rectangular coordinates

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 Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models
Case 3: Non-
Non-steady
steady--state continuous point release with no
wind

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Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models

Case 4: Steady-
Steady-state continuous point source release with wind

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Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models

Case 5: Puff with no wind and Eddy Diffusivity is a function
of direction

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 Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models
Case 6: Steady-
Steady-state continuous point source release with wind
and eddy diffusivity is a function of direction

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Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models

Case 7: Puff with wind

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 Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models
Case 8: Puff with no wind and with source on ground

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Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models

Case 9: Steady-
Steady-state plume with source on the ground

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 Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models
Case 10: Continuous steady-
steady-state source with source at height
Hr above the ground

For this case the ground acts as an impervious

boundary at a distance H from the source.

If Hr = 0, Equation 5-36 reduces to Equation 5-35 for a source on

the ground.

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Pasquill--Gifford Models
Pasquill

ƒ Cases 1 through 10 all depend on the specification of a value for

the eddy diffusivity Kj.
ƒ In general, Kj changes with position, time, wind velocity, and
prevailing weather conditions.
ƒ Although the eddy diffusivity approach is useful theoretically, it
is not convenient experimentally and does not provide a useful
framework for correlation.
ƒ Sutton solved this difficulty by proposing the following
definition for a dispersion coefficient:

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 ƒ The dispersion coefficients are a function of atmospheric
conditions and the distance downwind from the release.
ƒ The atmospheric conditions are classified according to
six different stability classes, shown in Table 5-1.

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ƒ The stability classes depend on wind speed and quantity

of sunlight. During the day, increased wind speed results
in greater atmospheric stability,
„ whereas at night the reverse is true. This is due to a
change
h in
i vertical
ti l temperature
t t profiles
fil from
f day
d to t night.
i ht

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Pasquill--Gifford Models
Pasquill

„ Limitations to Pasquill-
Pasquill-Gifford Model or Gaussian dispersion
„ Applies only to neutrally buoyant dispersion of gases in

which the turbulent mixing is the dominant feature of the

dispersion.
„ Typically valid for a distance of 0.1-
0.1-10 km from the release
point.
„ The predicted concentrations are time average.
„ The models presented here assumed 10-10-minute time
average

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 Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models
Case 11: Puff with instantaneous point source at ground
level, coordinates fixed at release point, constant wind only
in x direction with constant velocity u

The ground-level concentration is given at z = 0:

The ground-level concentration along the x axis is given at y = z = 0:

The center of the cloud is found at coordinates (ut, 0,0). The

concentration at the center of this moving cloud is given by
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Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models

Case 12: Plume with continuous steady-
steady-state source
at ground level and wind moving in x direction at
constant velocity u
This case is identical to case 9. The solution has a form similar to Equation 5-
35:

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 Example
Continuous release of gas (molecular weight of 30) is
resulting in a concentration of 0.5 ppm at 300 m
directly downwind on the ground. Estimate σy and σz.
Assume that the release occurs at ground level and
that the atmospheric conditions are worst case.

Assume u=2 m/s and stability is class F

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Solution
At 300 m = 0.3 km, sy = 11.8 and sz = 4.4.

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 Example
A gas with a molecular weight of 30 is used in a particular
process. A source model study indicates that for a particular
accident outcome 1.0 kg of gas will be released
i t t
instantaneously.
l Th
The release
l will
ill occur att ground
d level.
l l The
Th
plant fence line is 500 m away from the release.
Assume u=2 m/s and stability is class F
a. Determine the time required after the release for the
center of the puff to reach the plant fence line. Assume a
wind speed of 2 m/s.

b. Determine the maximum concentration of the gas reached

outside the fence line.

c. Determine the distance the cloud must travel downwind to

disperse the cloud to a maximum concentration of 0.5 ppm.
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Use the stability conditions of part b.

Solution

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Example

Due to a road accident, there is a leak of chlorine

g the leak is q
from a tank. Although quickly
y stopped,
pp , 4
kg of chlorine are released; the release can be
considered instantaneous. Downwind, on the road,
several cars have stopped at a distance of 200 m.
Calculate the time required for the centre of the
cloud to reach the cars. Then calculate the maximum
concentration at the location where the cars are
stopped.
d
Meteorological conditions: u = 2 m/s, T = 20 0C
overcast conditions. stability class D. assume σx=σy

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 Solution

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Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models

Case 13: Plume with Continuous steady-
steady-state source at height Hr above
ground level and wind moving in x direction at constant velocity u

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 Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models
Case 14: Puff with instantaneous point source at height Hr above
ground level and a coordinate system on the ground that moves
with the puff
For this case the center of the puff is found at x = ut. The average
concentration is given by

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 Neutrally Buoyant Dispersion Models
Case 14
Puff with Instantaneous Point Source at Height Hr above Ground
Level and a Coordinate System Fixed on the Ground at the Release
Point

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 Toxic Effect Criteria

• What concentration is considered dangerous?

• TLV
TLV-TWA
TWA is for worker exposures, and not design for short-
short
term exposures under emergency conditions.
• One of the recommended method by Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is by using emergency response
planning guidelines (ERPGs) for air contaminants issued by
the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA)
• Three concentration ranges are provided as a consequence
of exposure to a specific substance:

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Toxic Effect Criteria

• ERPG-1 is the maximum airborne concentration below

which it is believed nearly all individuals could be
exposed d ffor up to
t 1 hr
h without
ith t experiencing
i i effects
ff t other
th
than mild transient adverse health effects or perceiving a
clearly defined objectionable odor.
• ERPG-2 is the maximum airborne concentration below
which it is believed nearly all individuals could be
exposed for up to 1 hr without experiencing or
developing irreversible or other serious health effects or
symptoms that could impair their abilities to take
protective action.
• ERPG-3 is the maximum airborne concentration below
which it is believed nearly all individuals could be
exposed for up to 1 hr without experiencing or
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developing life-threatening health effects.

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 Toxic Effect Criteria

• Examples of ERPGs in unit ppm

ERPG--1
ERPG ERPG
ERPG--2 ERPG
ERPG--1
• Acetaldehyde 10 200 1000
• Acrolein 0.1 0.5 3
• Vinyl Acetate 5 75 500

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 Realistic and Worst-
Worst-Case Releases

„ The realistic releases represent the incident

outcomes with a high g pprobability
y of occurring
g
„ The worst
worst--case releases are those that assume
almost catastrophic failure of the process,
resulting in near instantaneous release of the
entire process inventory or release over a short
period of time
„ The worst
worst--case releases must be used to
determine the consequences study required by
EPA Risk Management Plan
„ Table 4-
4-5 lists a number of realistic and worst-
worst-
case releases.

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Realistic and Worst-

Worst-Case Releases

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60

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