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Author
Martinsen, W. E. | Johnson, D. W. | Welker, J. R.
Title
Fire Safety of LPG in Marine Transportation. Final Report.
Coporate
Applied Technology Corp., Washington, DC
Sponsor
Department of Energy, Washington, DC
Report
DOE/EV-06020-T4, August 1980, 201 p.
Contract
DE-AC05-78EV-06020
Keywords
fire safety | risk analysis | LP gas | ships | spill fires
Abstract
This report contains an analytical examination of cargo spill and fire hazard potential associated with the marine handling of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as cargo. Principal emphasis was on cargo transfer operations for ships unloading at receiving terminals, and barges loading or unloading at a terminal. Major safety systems, including emergency shutdown systems, hazard detection systems, and fire extinguishment and control systems were included in the analysis. Spill probabilities were obtained from fault tree analyses utilizing "composite" LPG tank ship and barge designs. Failure rates for hardware in the analyses were generally taken from historical data on similar generic classes of hardware, there being very little historical data on the specific items involved. Potential consequences of cargo spills of various sizes are discussed and compared to actual LPG vapor cloud incidents. The usefulness of hazard mitigation systems (particularly dry chemical fire extinguishers and water spray systems) in controlling the hazards posed by LPG spills and spill fires is also discussed. The analysis estimates the probability of fatality for a terminal operator is about 10-(6) to 10-(5) per cargo transfer operation. The probaility of fatality for the general public is substantially less.