Transportation Of Hazardous Chemicals Research Articles

Application of Digital Twin in Handling and Transportation of Hazardous Chemicals

In China, the Ministry of Transport stressed the need to “Strengthen the application of active safety technology”. The transportation of hazardous chemicals represented by LNG, LPG, and liquefied hydrocarbons is the weak link in traffic safety. The aim of this study is to apply digital twin (hereinafter referred to as DT) technology to the whole process of handling (including loading and unloading) and transportation of hazardous chemicals to help improve the anti-risk ability of road networks at all levels. The method is intended to design a monitoring system covering operation visualization, information fusion, cargo tracking, and hazard source monitoring that is based on DT technology and multi-source data acquisition technology. First, DT technology in the areas of hazardous chemicals handling and transportation is discussed. Then, the DT system is designed, including the system construction, functions, and the means of achieving these functions. Finally, taking the procedure in LNG road transportation as an example, we illustrate the application of DT in its four stages. This system is used to present the evolutionary path of accidents that occur in different links and assist in testing the rationality of the comprehensive disposal plan.

Accident analysis based on systems thinking approach: Case study of “6·13” tank truck explosion in Wenling, China

AbstractThe problem China is currently facing is why accidents related to the road transportation of hazardous chemicals, with the same or similar causes, keep happening and why we do not seem able to learn from these events. Systems thinking is a discipline of seeing systems holistically, and it creates a clearer picture of the dynamic, systematic structures that have contributed to the occurrence of a major incident. The “6·13” tank truck explosion accident is considered to be the most serious accident in the development of the Chinese road transportation system of hazardous chemicals in the past 5 years. From the accident investigation report, the system elements were identified, and a causal loop diagram was developed based on the systems thinking archetype of “shifting the burden.” In this paper, we focused on two problem symptoms: “defective construction of anti‐collision guardrails” and the “unsafe behavior of speeding.” The causal loop diagram not only illustrated symptomatic solutions to the problem symptoms in the accident report, but also identified fundamental solutions. Most importantly, this research revealed how an underlying systemic structure ultimately resulted in a major accident. This knowledge is useful for developing prevention policies and industrial strategies and benefits the safety and sustainability of China's chemical industries.

Blast resistance of a folded arch cross-section immersed tunnel subjected to internal explosion

With the completion of the subsea immersed tunnel of the Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge (HZMB), the tunnel structure in a closed environment for a long time will inevitably be threatened by sudden extreme accidents such as car accidents and car bombs. However, intensive research efforts have been devoted to understanding their performance under service and seismic loads, and the vulnerability of the tunnels against accidental blast loads is seldom discussed. The present study performs an immersed tunnel model of HZMB was constructed at a scale of 1:5 to carry out the explosion test. The results showed that after an internal explosion of a van-type bomb, the roof subsidence of the tunnel model doubled under the same water pressure. The test also revealed that the peak overpressure load on the roof was up to 50 MPa, which showed the multi-peak characteristics, and evident cracks appeared on the top slab and at the junction of the roof and middle wall. In addition, based on the fully verified constitutive model of high strain rate materials, a refined finite element model was established. The propagation characteristics of the blast wave in the tunnel, dynamic response characteristics, and failure process and modes of the tunnel structure were discussed in the developed FE model. The results showed that the ultimate blast resistance of the tunnel model was 41.8 kg TNT (scaled distance is 0.363 m/kg1/3). Furthermore, a resonance effect was observed between the middle wall and roof. The deformation and damage of the roof could be significantly reduced for the explosion height of 1.06–1.25 m. This height range could be very useful for developing traffic standards guiding the safe transportation of hazardous chemicals in tunnels. Based on the numerical and test data, four blast damage levels were finally identified and categorized according to the scaled distance to the tunnel roof.

Comparative Study of the Hazardous Chemical Transportation Accident Analyses Using the CREAM Model and the 24Model

Compared with other types of transportation, hazardous chemical transportation is more dangerous and more likely to cause accidents, such as combustion and explosion. To better study the advantages of different accident analysis models and realize the sustainable development of the accident analysis, this paper compares the 24Model and the cognitive reliability and error analysis method in their analyses of causes of hazardous chemical transportation accidents. Regarding their analyses of the causes of hazardous chemical transportation accidents, the causal factors of hazardous chemical transportation accidents are obtained. Then the analysis results of the two models are compared on three aspects: the object of accident influence, the module of accident analysis, and the number of accident causes. Gray correlation analysis and regression analysis are used to quantitatively compare and verify the focus of the two models on the cause of the accident. The results show that the 24Model emphasizes the safety culture of the enterprise, the cognitive reliability and error analysis method emphasizes the technology of the enterprise, and the two accident analysis models provide different emphases on preventing accidents to better achieve the goal of sustainable development.

Cotton fibers bleaching through in situ electrochemical generation of oxidant agents

Cotton is the world’s leading fiber crop and contains natural coloring impurities which need to be removed by bleaching. The most applied bleaching methodology utilizes chemical oxidants, such as hydrogen peroxide. This method is carried out at high temperatures and under strong alkaline conditions, entailing high-energy consumption, strong alkaline effluents and severe fiber damage. The development of milder and greener bleaching processes, in which the fibers are less damaged, is a goal that has long been pursued. Another approach for cotton bleaching is the use of sodium hypochlorite as an oxidant. Several methods applying hypochlorite are known, but they face problems associated with the transport, storage and handling of unstable and hazardous chemicals. Here we present a mild methodology for in situ electrogeneration of hypochlorite from sodium chloride or potassium chloride, and its application in bleaching of cotton, thus reducing the problems associated with the transport and storage of the oxidizing reagent. Our methodology was able to bleach the cotton fibers with a comparable whiteness degree, when compared to the conventional one, and it is carried out in lower reaction times, at room temperature, with no need of addition of hazardous materials and avoiding the production of residual hypochlorite.

Simulation of LPG tank truck leakage and explosion accident based on CFD

Road transportation of hazardous chemicals has a high risk and is likely to cause serious road traffic accidents. In this paper, the most common LPG tanker in hazardous chemical transportation is taken as the research object. Based on theCFD method, we used FLACS software to simulate LPG tank car accident in Italy. The leakage process of LPG tank car after leakage was simulated, and the diffusion process of propane and butane mixture in one minute when the accident occurred. It was further analyzed that the leakage material exploded when it encountered the ignition source, and the shock wave overpressure was the highest at 2.5 seconds after the explosion, with the shock wave pressure exceeded 0.26MPa. Also, the attenuation of theblast wave is higher in the area far away from the explosion source. The research results can provide effective data support for on-site emergency disposal and personnel evacuation of similar accidents.

A Two-Stage Hybrid Metaheuristic for a Low-Carbon Vehicle Routing Problem in Hazardous Chemicals Road Transportation

Low-carbon economy advances the sustainable development of the transportation of hazardous chemicals. This paper focuses on the multi-trip heterogeneous vehicle routing problem that includes the prioritization of customers and transportation of incompatible cargoes (MTHVRP-PCIC) in which some customers are prioritized for delivery by heterogeneous vehicles and more than one type of cargo is transported. This is an issue because some cargoes are incompatible with each other and therefore cannot be loaded into the same vehicle. MFHVRP-PCIC aims to find a set of routes resulting in minimal costs including fixed cost, travel cost and carbon emission cost. This problem occurs in real-life applications in the hazardous chemicals road transportation industry. This paper contributes to addressing the MTHVRP-PCIC from a problem definition, model, and methodological point of view. We establish a mathematical formulation for this problem. A two-stage hybrid metaheuristic approach (TSHM) is also devised to solve this problem. First, an improved greedy randomized adaptive search procedure is designed to generate initial feasible solutions. Then, a hybrid genetic algorithm including local search strategies, split-feasibility procedure, and simulated annealing is designed to solve this problem. Finally, the proposed approach is applied to solve a real case of hazardous chemical delivery and a benchmark dataset, and the resulting solutions indicate the advantage of our algorithm compared with those solutions obtained from managerial experience and classical algorithms.

Design of risk assessment and decision support system for transportation of hazardous chemicals

According to the needs of risk assessment, path planning and emergency rescue of hazardous chemicals transportation, a risk assessment and decision support system of hazardous chemicals transportation was designed, including system structure, implementation process and main functions. The feasibility analysis of key technologies was carried out. This system took Geographic Information System (GIS) as the support platform, and integrated multi-source information such as hazardous chemicals, global positioning system (GPS), geographic environment, Meteorological information, etc. Based on classical pollution diffusion models and relevant domestic and foreign standards, the index system of transportation risk assessment was built. Then the quantitative index of risk assessment and the early warning sign could be given, and the hazard area of the chemical accident was determined. At last, this risk assessment and decision support system provided suggestions on route optimization for hazardous chemicals transport, which could be severed as scientific basis for emergency rescue and command decision.

Study on safety evaluation of hazardous chemicals transportation industry in Capital city based on principal component analysis and cluster analysis

With the reform of chemical transportation industry accelerating, the safety evaluation of chemical transportation industry in China is becoming more and more standardized. Based on the theory of big data analysis and SPSS software as a platform, first of all, of the Beijing 91 the system construction and management of dangerous chemicals transportation enterprises, safety culture, safety production standardization 24 safety evaluation indexes such as principal component analysis, it is concluded that safety training basic requirements, loading and unloading operation, parking lot, civil air defense, vehicle dynamic supervision, system construction and management, safety production standardization, pilot eight kinds of factors as the main indexes for safety assessment. After using the eight indexes of 91 clustering analysis for transport enterprises, the enterprise is divided into five clusters of reasonable results, through the summary of common characteristics within the same cluster enterprises, it is concluded that the handling operation index plays an important role in classification for transport enterprises such as conclusion, can provide reference for other areas. At the same time, the conclusion can be used as a reference for the follow-up safety evaluation of hazardous chemical transportation enterprises, so as to achieve the purpose of targeted safety inspection.

Laboratory simulation on drifting of hazardous chemical substance

The continuously increase of hazardous chemicals transportation leads to a high risk of chemicals leakage. Researches on drifting of chemical substances are of vital importance in damage reducing. Laboratory simulation on drifting of hazardous chemical substance carried out inside a wave tank at the Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory. Different environmental conditions (wind, wave, etc.) were simulated in the wave tank to find out the influence of these factors on substance drifting and diffusion. To identify the difference between hazardous substance, floating ball and dyed petroleum oil were used to simulate solid and liquid floating hazardous chemical substance. The result revealed that wave can improve diffusion, the diffusion speed varies with wave height. Wind can drive surface substance, the drifting coefficient ranges from 2.1% to 3.0%, while liquid drifting coefficient is relatively larger. The laboratory results provide a basis for the study on the drifting and diffusion of hazardous chemicals at sea. Meanwhile, the coefficient could be applied as a correction in numerical models to improve prediction accuracy.

Trends in Decreasing Disinfection By-Products Formation during Electrochemical Technologies

Disinfecting water and wastewater electrochemically is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly alternative for the chemical disinfection. During electrochemical disinfection, the water is passed through an electrolytic cell which is equipped with a set of electrodes. The effectiveness of the process depends upon cell configuration, electrode material, electrolyte composition, microorganism, water flow rate, and current density. One of the main advantages of electrodisinfection is the on-site production of disinfectants; thereby the common drawbacks of chlorination including transportation and storage of hazardous chemicals can be avoided. On the other hand, the high cell voltages due to low electrical conductivity of water and the high capital cost are the main bottlenecks for electrodisinfection. The generation of chlorinated by-products stays the main worry related to electrochemical water treatment processes. This work discusses the main tendencies in dealing with such issues. In some setups, the electrolyte separates the anode and cathode is a proton exchange membrane. This assists to reduce the formation of perchlorate and such conduct is improved in the smallest cell for which the so short contact periods between the electrodes and the water helps to avert the formation of perchlorates when working in a single-pass mode, which becomes a really remarkable point. Other strategies are examined such as developed electrochemical advanced oxidation process, the electroperoxone (E-peroxone) process, which combines ozonation with in situ electro-generation of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from cathodic oxygen reduction. Electrochemical processes could be merged with nanotechnologies for better efficiency in dealing with pathogens and pollutants removal. In the next future, a hybrid process combining both techniques would be suggested as a part of treatment train for treating water and wastewater.

Structure elucidation of a novel analogue of pesticide from express post parcel by HRMS

An express post parcel was confiscated due to the stuff was not equal to the named stuff. HPLC coupled with high resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) was applied to separate and elucidate the unknown by the combination of the accurate molecular weight, isotope ratio, and fragments. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed for further confirmation. A new derivative of pesticide chlorantraniliprole was found and first reported. The pesticide analogue named 3-Bromo-1-(3-chloro-2-pyridinyl)-N-[2,4- dichloro-6-(isopropylcarbamoyl) henyl]-1H-pyrazole- 5-carboxamide. The derivative of chlorantraniliprole was not able to be detected by any routine pesticide residue analysis. It could be illegally used in claimed organic food or any natural vegetable. Besides, the dishonest people import illegal chemical through express post parcel without registering to any authority, made hazardous chemical transportation management very hard, as well the prevention of the entry of chemicals into food chain.

Path Optimization of Hazardous Chemicals Transportation Based on Improved NSGA-II Algorithm

Different stakeholders have different concerns about the transportation of hazardous chemicals. Multi-objective optimization comprehensively considering transportation risks and transportation interests is the primary demand for the transportation of hazardous chemicals. For this, this paper studies the multi-objective combinatorial optimization problem of multiple hazardous chemicals in the same distribution range of transportation network. Firstly, according to the transportation characteristics of hazardous chemicals, the calculation methods of distribution paths in terms of physical dissimilarity and spatial dissimilarity were proposed. Then, a multi-objective optimization model of hazardous chemicals transportation was established with transportation risk, cost and time as optimization objectives, and the model was solved by the improved NSGA-II algorithm. Finally, the feasibility of the optimization method was verified in practical examples. The research results show that the proper increase of transportation risk value can greatly reduce the transportation cost and transportation time. When the calculation results only emphasize the optimal risk, there exist a large number of shared road sections in different transportation planning paths, so that the transportation risks are concentrated; however, after setting the threshold and increasing the constraint conditions, the phenomenon of the shared road section is significantly reduced, and the distribution of the hazardous chemicals transportation risks is relatively dispersed, to further control the potential hazards. This shall provide a theoretical reference for the risk regulation of hazardous chemicals transportation and the cost control of carriers.

Risk Evaluation of Hazardous Chemicals Transportation Based on Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation

The purpose of this study is to provide safety pre-warning and guarantee for the transportation of hazardous chemicals in transport enterprises. To this end, this paper conducts a risk assessment study on hazardous chemicals transportation based on fuzzy comprehensive evaluation (FCE) method. Taking the waterway transportation of transport enterprises as the research object, the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was selected and used to establish secondary index evaluation system from five aspects: transportation equipment, hazardous chemicals, man, transportation environment and enterprise management. Also, the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) was applied to configure the index weights. Thus, a fuzzy comprehensive risk assessment model for hazardous chemicals was established. The example analysis results show that the fuzzy risk assessment model can quantitatively evaluate the risk level of hazardous chemicals transportation. The risk score of a transport enterprise in Zhoushan is 66.2, which belongs to the general safety level with potential transportation risks. This provides effective theoretical guidance for risk assessment and orientation reform of hazardous chemicals transportation enterprises.

Optimization of truck-and-trailer transportation scheduling for Hazardous Chemicals with empty trailer task

A hazardous chemicals truck-and-trailer transportation scheduling model with empty trailer task was established in an actual hazardous chemicals transportation network. The model involves two stages. In the first stage, an empty trailer scheduling plan with the shortest total distance was established. In this process, a scenario where a heavy trailer task unlocks an empty trailer was considered. In the second stage, a hazardous chemicals truck-and-trailer transportation scheduling model was established with the target to have minimum total operating cost and time consumption. Finally, a specific calculation example was established, and the programming was implemented using Microsoft Visual Studio 2013 development platform, to create hazardous chemicals truck-and-trailer transportation program. On comparing the truck-and-trailer transportation program with a program where there is no truck-and-trailer in hazardous chemicals transportation, it was seen that truck-and-trailer transportation program can reduce the number of the vehicles performing tasks by 50%, reduce total time consumption by 38% and total cost by 40.6%, which validates the effectiveness of the model and algorithm.

Route Optimization of Hazardous Chemical Logistics Transportation Based on Improved Ant Colony Algorithm

The construction of safe and efficient logistics transportation routes for hazardous chemicals can effectively ensure the safety of personnel and property. In this paper, the transportation distance and transportation risk in the distribution process of hazardous chemicals are taken as the optimization objectives. Besides, considering the risk impact of the hazardous chemicals’ weight change on the distribution route planning, a bi-objective optimization model that minimizes the distribution distance and transportation risk was constructed. Then, the traditional ant colony algorithm was improved by selecting the non-dominated solutions from the single solution results of the ant colony algorithm, and the transportation risk and transportation distance objective of the selected optimal non-dominated solution were extracted, to calculate the weights of the two and integrate them into the update process of overall calculation information. Finally, the simulation test method was used to compare and analyse the difference in route planning between the traditional risk measurement model and the improved one of hazardous chemicals transportation. The experimental results show that the improved risk measurement model can better distinguish the route with less risk. It also has stronger algorithmic optimization abilities and sensitivity to population exposures, so as to provide a variety of planning routes for personnel and meet the diverse needs of transport distances and transportation risks.

Hazardous Chemicals Transportation Decision Method Based on Intelligent Logistics System

The logistics transportation optimization scheduling method based on intelligent decision system is the development trend of the future logistics industry. Based on the intelligent decision-making technology of dangerous goods logistics, and also the combination of wireless radio frequency identification (RFID) and wireless sensor network (WSN), this paper constructs a decision-making method for hazardous chemicals transportation based on intelligent logistics system, and for the defects existing in the current transportation process of hazardous chemicals. Then. it proposes the intelligent optimization scheduling model of hazardous chemicals logistics path, which optimizes the information collection methods in traditional hazardous chemicals logistics, realizes the dynamic monitoring of dangerous goods logistics, and effectively reduces the occurrence probability of hazards. Meanwhile, in this paper, the traditional Petri net has been improved to construct a Petri net-based logistics process optimization algorithm with workflow weighting performance. This algorithm can describe and model the whole process of logistics in a hierarchical way, perform multi-dimensional performance analysis on the logistics process, and accurately find the defects in the logistics process, so as to get the optimal dangerous goods logistics distribution strategy. The example verification results show that the proposed model in this study has high practicability, which can provide the optimal transportation decision-making scheme for hazardous chemicals under the complicated conditions of multi-operation nodes, multi-flow direction and multi-transport modes.

Risk Simulation and Route Optimization for Hazardous Chemical Transportation Based on Gaussian Plume Model

The boom of chemical industry has made China heavily demanding for hazardous chemicals. In response to this, the security of road transport for hazardous chemicals has become even more important, while in the academic circles, the great challenge is to study how to ensure the security in the course of highway transportation of hazardous chemicals. It is suggested that the consequences of possible accidents occurred in transition be predicted accurately and effectively, by which a safer route can be chosen for transporting these chemicals. The most effective ways of how to reduce the probability of accidents resulting from hazardous chemicals and how to mitigate the consequences of road transport accidents resulting from hazardous chemicals are nothing but choosing an ideal transport route for these. This paper simulates the leakage of dangerous chemicals with the Gaussian plume model to determine its affected area, analyze the key factors affecting the choice of transportation routes and the route tuning objective. There are two problems: how to reduce the road transport risk and how to optimize the transport route for dangerous chemicals. We should settle both of them to provide the clues to improving the security of road transportation for dangerous chemicals.

Logistics Transportation Cost Control of Hazardous Chemicals Based on Cost Control Method

With the continuous expansion of industrial processes, the scale of logistics transportation in hazardous chemicals transportation industry has been expanding, and the increasing transportation costs have posed new challenges to the development of this industry. Based on the theory of cost control method, this paper studies the logistics transportation cost of hazardous chemicals and proposes relevant control measures. The research results show that the longer the transport distance, the higher the transportation cost and risk cost; under the condition of fixed transport distance, the rigid influencing factors are not controlled by the transport enterprises of hazardous chemicals. Both population density and free-flow speed have a greater impact on risk costs. With the cost as the core, the fixed cost, operating cost and transaction cost are combined organically according to the minimum cost requirement, so as to minimize the total logistics cost. This study has important guiding significance for reducing the transportation cost of hazardous chemicals and improving the profit and competitiveness of enterprises.

Regulatory and legal framework for chemical safety in Ukraine

Ukraine has never manufactured, amassed or applied chemical weapon. However, on the territory of Ukraine, a significant amount of poisonous substances are used in the industry, in domestic life, in medical and scientific institutions, which may exert a detrimental influence on people and environment. Moreover, various substances may be involved in the production of chemical weapons.The article is aimed at investigating the legal and regulatory framework of Ukraine, which is necessary for the effective functioning of the chemical safety system.At the beginning of the XXI century, a powerful international legal framework has been established in order to prohibit the development, production, stockpiling, application and disposal of the chemical weapons. Particular attention is paid to dual-usage goods. Ukraine has joined the leading international regulatory instrument in the field of chemical safety regulation.The implementation of the international legal norms to the national legislation is in progress of establishment. Ukraine is a party to all international export control regimes. Taking into account international experience, the national export control system is being developed and is constantly being improved. Ukraine signed bilateral and multilateral international treaties in order to launch an effective legal framework for the national chemical safety system.In Ukraine, it has been laid the foundation of the national legal documents base in the field of chemical safety. The major documents include the laws of Ukraine “On Foreign Economic Activity” and “On the State Control over International Transfers of Military and Dual-Use Commodities”, the Concept for Increasing the Level of Chemical Safety, Action Plans and Government Programs, certain Articles of the Codes of Ukraine, a number of documents of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in the field of regulation of production, storage, transportation, use, disposal and destruction of hazardous chemicals. The national list of military and dual-usage goods has been drawn up and constantly updated in the state.
 Thus, the regulatory framework of Ukraine in the field of chemical safety is formed and enhanced taking into consideration the national peculiarities of state development and international legal norms.