Risk Evaluation
Various testing methods have been researched and developed regarding methods of evaluating the risks of hazardous materials The Institute has found methods of measuring the up-per flash points of flammable liquids, burning tests of oxidizing substances, and the like and has contributed to their development. Areas currently being researched include testing methods for such hazards as the effect of heating under defined confinement conditions, self-accelerating decomposition temperature, detonatability, and the like of self-reactive substances.
Further, the Institute has performed basic research in terms of both chemical reaction mechanisms and phenomenology concerning a variety of hazardous properties themselves of chemical substances.
Method of risk evaluation
Static Electricity as a Source of Ignition
It is said that static electric sparks account for about 10% of the fires that occur in hazardous material handling and storage facilities as the source of ignition. For this reason, the Institute has been researching the occurrence and accumulation of static electricity during the handling of petroleum liquids and related materials for the purpose of preventing risks due to static electricity.
Electric field appears when charged oil fills a container with a projection inside
Oil Tank Safety
The Institute has conducted studies on such problems as corrosion, fatigue, microscopic cracking, earthquakes, and the like which cause damage to tanks and such problems as combustion rate, radiant heat, boil over, and similar phenomena of tank fires in order to contribute to the safety of large-sized petroleum storage tanks.
Countermeasures against Fires
The Institute has performed half-scale experiments in order to obtain basic fire fighting data material when an oil tank fire breaks out, and has researched combustion rate, flame temperature, radiant heat, gas composition of the flame, and the like. Full-scale tank fire experiments have recently been promoted in cooperation with the United States research groups in which radiant heat, smoke generation, and a host of other Items were measured and studied.
State of deformation of an oil storage tank
Experiment on fatigue strength of member with
welded joint under a corrosive environment
Estimation of Strength
An oil storage tank must be strong enough to withstand the great loads that operate on it due to the pressure of oil and earthquakes. Since oil tanks are made of steel plates, corrosion is a subject of concern if the tank is used over a long period of time. The Institute has examined how the members composing an oil tank are damaged when subjected to large cyclic loads in environments where corrosion occur.
Fire experiment with a 2.7m square tank using heptane as the fuel