Powder aerosols generated by accidents: pressurized release experiments.
Safety assessments and environmental impact statements for facilities require an estimation of airborne releases. Aerosols generated by accidents are being investigated to develop the source terms for these releases. A severe accidental release event could be a pressurized powder release. Pressurized powder release experiments performed in static air measured the mass airborne and particle size distribution of these aerosols as a function of source size and containment pressure. Both containment pressure and source size were significant in pressurized powder releases. Release in static air can be estimated using the relationships developed in this work. Weight percent of the source powder airborne ranged from approximately 2 to 24%. Mass median aerodynamic equivalent diameters of the airborne particles ranged from 5 to 19 microns. All of the pressurized releases produced a significant fraction of respirable particles 10 microns AED and less.
D000062:Accidents, Occupational; D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis; D010316:Particle Size; D011208:Powders; D011312:Pressure; D014025:Titanium / Q000032:analysis; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis; D017974:Uranium Compounds
D000336:Aerosols; D000393:Air Pollutants; D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D011208:Powders; D017974:Uranium Compounds; C009495:titanium dioxide; D014501:Uranium; D014025:Titanium; C012597:uranium dioxide