Posted By K. Babu Rao There is a proposal to set up an Ethylene dichloride plant in our state in India. The plant uses 9.3 tonnes per hour of chlorine. Environmental Impact Assessment report submitted for clearance claims use of one tonners for chlorine supply. In one part of the EIA they propose to unload the tonners into a storage tank. But in risk assessment chapter they say that as tonners are used for chlorine supply no risk assessmnet is necessary. At the required rate of 9.3 tph on an average a cylinder gets emptied every 6.5 minutes. It means continuous handling of heavy cylinders day in and day out. Is it safe? Is it a normal practice in industry to draw chlorine at such high rates from a bank of cylinders? Please give your suggestions. Regards, K. Babu Rao

Posted By Jay Joshi From your e-mail address, I presume that you are from Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India. If the consumption of chlorine is 9.3 tonnes per hour using 1 tonne cylinders, then the consumption will be about 9 to 10 cylinders per hour, assuming that the reference is to normal temperature and pressure. I cannot see how cylinders will have to be changed every 6.5 minutes if you are referring to the same 1 tonne cylinders. There is UK regulatory priced guidance regarding the storage & use of chlorine. It does not cover environmental impact. The bibliographic details are:- “Safety advice for bulk chlorine installations” Health and Safety Executive booklet; HS(G)28(rev) ISBN: 0717616452 “Safe handling of chlorine from drums and cylinders” Health and Safety Executive booklet; HS(G)40(rev) ISBN : 0717616460 In UK, such a site would genearlly be under the scope of COMAH regulations, depending upon storage and production rates. There is a “Safety Report Assessment Guide: Chlorine” on the HSE Hazardous Installations Directorate website:- http://www.hse.gov.uk/hid/sragchl/index.htm There are other useful resources on the HSE Hazardous Installations Directorate website:- http://www.hse.gov.uk/hid/land/comah2/index.htm However, you need to take into consideration that the requirement relates to UK regulations.

Posted By K. Babu Rao Thank you Mr. Jay Joshi. I am glad you know our institute. May I know how you are familiar with our institute. It is a continuous process and let us say there are two banks 10 cylinders each. First ten cylinders are emptied in an hour, and we switch over to the second bank of cylinders. Then you have to replace all these 10 empty cylinders in an hours time. That leaves 6 minutes to handle each. I do not know if there is a way of taking out all the 10 cylinders at a time. daily 224 tonners have to be handled. this is what concerns us. I will check the references you gave. Thanks again, K. Babu Rao