Separation distance of petrol and LPG cargo tankers in parking lot: a consequence modeling study

  Parking areas that are gathering places for tank trucks are potentially dangerous places. This study analyzes accident consequences of oil products carriers, to check and compare the hazard radius with recommended separation distances.

This descriptive-analytical study was carried out in 5 stages, including: scenario selection, determination of the accidents source parameters, determination of atmospheric conditions, selection of reference values, and modeling the analysis of scenarios and its consequences. The process hazard analysis software tool (PHAST) is used to analyze the consequences of accidents in liquid petroleum gas and gasoline tankers.

  Based on average values, the appropriate separation distances are 50±25.8 m and 361.4±184.8 m for leakage and catastrophic rupture of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tanker, and 28.3±14.9 m and 571.2±137.6 m for leakage and catastrophic rupture of a petrol tanker, respectively. The separation distance based on the catastrophic rupture is so large that it is not practical for the design and management of road tanker parking area. According to the leakage scenario, a safety distance of 28.3-50 m is required. Separation distance based on catastrophic rupture is so great, it has no applicability in designing and managing road tanker parking areas. According to the leakage scenario, a safety distance of approximately 28.3-50 m is needed.

 With the existing separation criteria a tanker accident may spread to other parts of the parking lot and it can lead to a disaster. Therefore, it seems necessary to review and update the guidelines and standards in parking lot design and separation distances as well as emergency planning.