Work

Environmental Dispersion of Toxic Effluents from Waste Polyethylene Fires: Simulations with ALOFT

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In recent years, the Italian peninsula has frequently been affected by fires in waste storage facilities, both accidental and malicious. Waste storage activities must comply with a series of regulations that require the employer to carefully assess the risks associated with the operation of the plant. All prevention and protection measures must be taken to reduce the risk of fires in order to safeguard both people and the environment. In addition, with new regulations coming into force in November 2022, efforts are being made to regulate waste treatment and storage facilities in terms of fire safety. This work presents simulations of the dispersion into the environment of toxic effluents produced during a polyethylene fire at a storage site, with the aid of dedicated software. Simulations were carried out using ALOFT, varying the parameters of the simulations (e.g., the burnt area, environmental characteristics, and toxic effluent investigated). In total, 24 simulations were carried out to investigate the emissions of particulate matter and volatile organic compounds in the case of polyethylene fires. The simulations showed that atmospheric stability class and wind speed had a significant impact on the dispersion. The proposed methodology can be applied both in the risk assessment and emergency phases and, eventually, as a valuable tool in post-accident analysis.

Source: ChemEngineering

DOI: 10.3390/chemengineering9020041

Authors: Giulia De Cet, Chiara Vianello

Institution: University of Padua

Language: English

Topic: Fire dynamics and safety research

Subfield: Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Climate action

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,930