Consequence Analysis for Chlorine Dioxide Accidental Releases, 1998 Environmental Conference Proceedings

Hung-Ming (Sue) Sung, Ph.D.

Trinity

David Bryer

Mead Corporation

As a result of the cluster rule for the control of the hazardous air pollutants, mills are in the process of substituting chlorine with aqueous chlorine dioxide for bleaching operations. Processes containing chlorine dioxide with 1% or higher concentration by weight will be covered by the Risk Management Program rule, which requires a mill to conduct a consequence analysis for various accidental release scenarios. Currently, limited chemical/physical properties are available for conducting accidental release analyses of chlorine dioxide. Data, collected by chemical suppliers for the chlorine dioxide generation processes, have been analyzed to allow mills to perform a dynamic modeling analysis to evaluate various release scenarios. This paper provides a detailed discussion of the modeling methodology for various chlorine dioxide release scenarios. In addition, chlorine dioxide is known to decompose through photochemical reactions to form chlorine. The decomposition is also discussed in this paper to evaluate the proper toxic endpoints for an emergency response plan.