Incomplete understanding of biogas chemical hazards — Serious gas poisoning accident while unloading food waste at biogas plant
- Frank Huess Hedlund
Frank Huess HedlundMore by Frank Huess Hedlund
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- Michael Madsen
Michael MadsenMore by Michael Madsen
Abstract
At a biogas plant, a truck driver was overcome by toxic fumes while unloading food waste slurry collected at sites that operate a shredder and tank system. Trucks unload their cargo into a feedstock pit. While unloading, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and possibly other toxic gases were released. Ventilation systems were overwhelmed. The driver narrowly escaped death. Several would-be rescuers collapsed. Under marginally different conditions, this accident could have led to five fatalities.
The case offers a rich account of the actions of fellow workers who with stubborn determination sought to extract the unconscious driver. Even after having collapsed themselves, been extracted and recovered, they re-entered the building — amazingly still without realizing the gas danger.
The article argues that long retention time in the logistics chain may alter the hazard profile of food waste slurry. This emerging risk appears overlooked and under-studied.
The case exposes insufficient attention to safety in the rapidly expanding biogas sector. The biogas plant was unprepared. The investigation was quick, superficial and woefully inadequate. Root causes were not identified. Broad information sharing is limited or non-existent.
Cited By
This article is cited by 6 publications.
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- Jingjing Chen, Mikael Risberg, Lars Westerlund, Urban Jansson, Changsong Wang, Xiaohua Lu, Xiaoyan Ji. Heat-transfer performance of twisted tubes for highly viscous food waste slurry from biogas plants. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts 2022, 15 (1) https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-022-02156-4
- Predrag Ilić, Dragana Nešković Markić, Ljiljana Stojanović Bjelić, Zia Ur Rahman Farooqi. Ventilation strategies for healthy indoors in hospitals. 2022, 273-287. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-85206-7.00010-1
- Maciej J. Szary. MoS2 doping for enhanced H2S detection. Applied Surface Science 2021, 547 , 149026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2021.149026
- Katarzyna Stolecka, Andrzej Rusin. Potential hazards posed by biogas plants. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2021, 135 , 110225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110225
- Hong Chen, Yang Zhao, Xiaotong Ma, . Critical Factors Analysis of Severe Traffic Accidents Based on Bayesian Network in China. Journal of Advanced Transportation 2020, 2020 , 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/8878265