Vinyl Acetate Emission Rates and Explosions in Tank Farms in Dilovasi and Yumurtalik, Turkey: A Case Study Halil Dertli 1 , Didem Saloglu 2* 1 Chemical Engineering Department, Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering Faculty, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul 34730, Turkey 2 Disaster and Emergency Management Department, Disaster Management Institute, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul 34730, Turkey Corresponding Author Email: saloglu@itu.edu.tr https://doi.org/10.18280/ijsse.110609 ABSTRACT Received: 6 August 2021 Accepted: 2 November 2021 The emission estimations for vinyl acetate from storage tanks located in Dilovasi and Yumurtalik, Turkey, were completed by using the US EPA standard regulatory storage tanks emission model (TANKS 4.9b). Total annual emission was determined to be 7,603.15 kg/year for Yumurtalik and 6,057.06 kg/year for Dilovasi. In addition, ALOHA software was used in order to define emergency responses required in the case of vinyl acetate leakage based on different scenarios. According to ALOHA program modelling results, the threat regions occurred were 113 and 236 m for the red threat region, 299 and 663 m for the orange threat region, and 790 m and 2.0 km for the yellow threat region for vinyl acetate toxic vapour in Dilovasi and Yumurtalik, respectively. The threat regions determined were 10 and 15 m for the red threat region, 9.14 m for orange threat region, and 20 and 49 m for the yellow threat region for modelling of flammable area for the vapour cloud of vinyl acetate in Dilovasi and Yumurtalik, respectively. The amount of thermal radiation was determined to be 10 kW/m 2 at a distance of 9.96 m from the tanks in both Dilovasi and Yumurtalik during a jet fire. Keywords: ALOHA, emission, explosive chemicals, TANKS 4.09d, vinyl acetate 1. INTRODUCTION Specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are determined in air today and ambient air concentrations of various VOCs such as acetone, acetonitrile, chloroform, toluene, and vinyl acetate exceed health criteria. The detection of VOCs in the ambient air is related to the decreases in air quality due to the formation of photochemical reactions [1, 2]. Air pollutant emission limits are used in many countries, including Turkey. In Turkey, air quality policies and legislation are in force and an air quality management system has been established. Turkey's major storage facilities are located near the Marmara Sea and also the Mediterranean Sea. Organic liquids, monomeric and polymeric compounds, and petroleum-based chemicals used in many countries are imported through both Marmara and Mediterranean Sea ports and stored in the chemical plants and tank farms placed these regions before transportation. Petroleum products and organic compounds such as solvents, monomeric and polymeric chemicals are very critical chemical compounds for economy. In Turkey, tank farms operate using some regulations in order to control of atmospheric emissions. The annual average emissions of VOCs from various organic liquids are investigated using the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) standard regulatory emission model (TANKS). The API 2518 method of the American Petroleum Institute (API) is one of the most important references for calculation of the annual average emissions of VOCs. The EPA includes all information and calculations regarding the evaporation losses that occur during the storage of organic liquids in the Emission Factors EPA AP-42 document. With the TANKS 4.09d software program developed by the EPA, working, breathing losses and total emissions can be calculated for tanks where organic liquids are stored [3, 4]. The secured and protected regions for fire and explosion of VOCs and toxic compounds during an accident is very important. In order to determine safe regions, various software programs such as BREEZE, CHARM, QRA, and ALOHA are used. Areal Location of Hazardous Atmosphere (ALOHA) is a software used for modelling hazards from chemical release, thermal radiation, and vapour cloud explosions [5, 6]. The exposure duration and concentrations of chemicals are used to define the level of exposure of individuals or safety regions in industries and emergency response planning [7]. To examine the toxic effects of the chemical compounds, various parameters and criteria can be used. The most important criteria used in ALOHA is acute exposure guideline levels available in three tiers (AEGL-1, AEGL-2, and AEGL-3). AEGL-3 is the airborne concentration of a chemical above which it is assumed that people around the source may experience death or life-threatening serious health effects. AEGL-2 is the airborne concentration of a chemical above which it is assumed that people may experience irreversible long-lasting health effects. AEGL-1 is the airborne concentration of a chemical above which it is assumed that people may experience discomfort [8]. In this study, a vinyl acetate storage tank located in real tank farms in Dilovası, Kocaeli, Turkey and Yumurtalik, Adana, Turkey was selected as the model. The aim was investigation of the working and breathing losses and annual average International Journal of Safety and Security Engineering Vol. 11, No. 6, December, 2021, pp. 691-696 Journal homepage: http://iieta.org/journals/ijsse 691