Holistic Case Study on the Explosion of Ammonium Nitrate in Tianjin Port

Gending Yu, Yih-Shing Duh, Xiaodong Yang, Yongzhao Li, Yangqing Chen, Yuqi Li, Jingling Li, Rongguo Chen, Lingzhu Gong, Bin Yang and Jiulai Huang
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Gending Yu: Fuzhou Green Chemical and Cleaner Production Industry Technology Innovation Center, College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China
Yih-Shing Duh: Fuzhou Green Chemical and Cleaner Production Industry Technology Innovation Center, College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China
Xiaodong Yang: Fuzhou Green Chemical and Cleaner Production Industry Technology Innovation Center, College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China
Yongzhao Li: Guangxi Key Laboratory of Electrochemical and Magnetochemical Functional Materials, Guilin University of Technology, Gulin 541001, China
Yangqing Chen: Chongqing Rail Transit Co., Ltd., Chongqing 401120, China
Yuqi Li: Fuzhou Green Chemical and Cleaner Production Industry Technology Innovation Center, College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China
Jingling Li: Fuzhou Green Chemical and Cleaner Production Industry Technology Innovation Center, College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China
Rongguo Chen: Fuzhou Green Chemical and Cleaner Production Industry Technology Innovation Center, College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China
Lingzhu Gong: Fuzhou Green Chemical and Cleaner Production Industry Technology Innovation Center, College of Ecological Environment and Urban Construction, Fujian University of Technology, Fuzhou 350118, China
Bin Yang: Xibaoyuan Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., Xiamen 361000, China
Jiulai Huang: Xibaoyuan Chemical Technology Co., Ltd., Xiamen 361000, China

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 6, 1-20

Abstract: On 12 August 2015, Tianjin port, Tianjin City, China, a catastrophic explosion of Ruihai International Logistics Co., Ltd. (Tianjin, China) killed 173 and hurt almost 798 people, accompanying a financial loss of almost USD 2 billion. The ignition of the first fire due to the autocatalytic decomposition of nitrocellulose was verified by differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) isothermal tests. A crater with a diameter of 97 m was created by the second explosion. For the second catastrophic explosion, an amount of 577 tons of trinitrotoluene was determined by the average through scaling law, crater inverse analysis and blast effects on structures. The overpressure against distance for consequence analysis was conducted using Baker’s, Sadovski’s and Alonso’s methodologies. A distinctive scenario of “two-successive-sympathetic detonations-following-a-fire” was proposed and discussed. Isothermal time-to-maximum-rate was validated to be approximately 9 days for the nitrocellulose inside the containers with an internal temperature of 60 °C stored at Tianjin port. A fatality radius chosen at the overpressure of 0.6 bar was ascertained to be nearly 410 m from the explosion origin.

Keywords: sustainability; risk management; nitrocellulose; ammonium nitrate; case study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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