CHANGE Environmental, LLC conducted an intensive expert report on an explosion at a plant facility in Florida. The report was requested to determine the impact of emissions of the digestor contents on nearby residents. The explosion resulted in half the contents being released to the atmosphere from boiling liquid expanding vapor explosions, (BLEVE). Modeling was conducted on the emissions of hydrosulfide (H2S), methyl mercaptan (MM), dimethyl sulfide (DMS), and dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), and sodium hydroxide (NaOH), present as constituents in Black Liquor used in pulp digester, were estimated. With this information, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) public domain areal locations of hazardous atmospheric (ALOHA) and AIR QUALITY DISPERSION MODELING (AERMOD refined modeling system were used for plume direction and extent estimations. All constituents H2S, MM, DMS, and DMDS were modeled as gas releases in both ALOHA and AERMOD. NaOH was modeled for deposition as a particulate matter resulting from its form of a white solid iconic compound in AERMOD only.
All modeled results outlined areas of exposure to downwind areas with specific focus on Methyl Mercaptan (MM) that from plane analysis from AERMOD and ALOHA illustrated highest exposure outcomes and identified critical need for future assessments on health effects documented.