Safety Implications for Petrochemical Sites Resulting from the Use of Alternatively Powered Trucks

As with passenger cars and buses, trucks are more and more powered by alternative (“sustainable”) fuels. This paper presents a study into the implication for safety of the use of Alternatively Powered Vehicles (APVs) on (petro)chemical sites. APVs are defined here as trucks that are powered by LNG, CNG, or Li-ion batteries. Firstly we found that very little, if any, legislation regarding the fuel of trucks on chemical sites exists in Europe. However, there are various regulations that cover relevant vehicle, equipment or spatial aspects. Also, initiatives to develop APV-guidelines on industrial sites are being undertaken by (chemical) companies. Secondly we have created and evaluated accident scenario’s involving the energy sources. For each of the four energy sources key incident scenarios were created for driving across the site, for cargo (un)loading and for parking. Consequences of these accidents differ considerably from those with diesel trucks. Failure of a fuel tank of a diesel truck leads to a pool of liquid that won’t easily ignite. Incidents with natural gas or hydrogen may cause jet fires, fire balls, explosions, or a BLEVE. Accidents with batteries may lead to a ‘thermal runaway’ generating sparks, flares and toxic and flammable gases, possibly resulting in damage or injuries. These effects require special measures that should be laid down in the company’s Safety Management System.