산화에틸렌 공정 사고발생시 배출가스 처리 방안에 대한 연구

Abstract

Ethylene Oxide produced by ethylene oxidation reaction is one of the most important material in a petrochemical industry. The usage of Ethylene Oxide is to manufacture ethylene glycol, glycol ether, polyester, etc and this material is also implemented as a sterilizer or antiseptic. According to Occupational Safety and Health Act, dangerous substances should be safely treated throughout combustion, absorption, washing, collection and/or recovery. In case of Ethylene Oxide, the combustion in a flare system is really dangerous due to its instability and reactivity. Most companies handling Ethylene Oxide employ air vent or dissolution method for Ethylene Oxide. However, there is no scientific research or study to evaluate the design specifications for these disposal methods. In this study, three treatment methods for Ethylene Oxide are evaluated based on emergency cases. Especially PHAST(Process Hazard Analysis Software Tool) is employed to calculate the dispersion in case air vent method is operated and a proper height of a vent stack is investigated. In order to consider various atmosphere conditions, many scenarios are tested. And to assess a dissolution method, a real process is studied and the solubility of water is used to find the maximum storage of Ethylene Oxide. It is worth to note that this study can provide a proper tool to design safe disposal methods.