Chapter 14 - Community-level second-generation bioethanol plant: a case study focused on a safety issue

Abstract

Because of the development of new energy production strategies in the framework of biomass recycling processes, the scientific community and health authorities have recently shown a growing interest in occupational risk related to biofuels production. A well-known biofuel is bioethanol, which is a promising candidate to substitute gasoline as a transport fuel, and it can be produced by fermentative processes. In particular, biomass is the typical feedstock used in bioethanol production. In spite of the continuous development of the biofuels industry and the increase in the employed workforce, there are still few data, which are referred to the occupational health and safety, regarding the production processes. A potential hazard, referred to bioethanol production and storage, is fire due to the ignition of pools generated by accidental releases. In bioethanol production plants and storage depots, there are several components (flanges, tanks, pumps, pipes, etc.), which can release the abovementioned biofuel in case of failure. With reference to bioethanol pool fire, the chapter has been focused on the definition of a methodological approach aimed at assessing the possible outcomes on workers. The approach is achieved through the comparison between two semiempirical models.