Project Jack Rabbit - Sonmi-819sonmi.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/7/4/24749526/project...Project Jack Rabbit: Spring 2010 Ammonia and Chlorine Field Releases Shannon B. Fox, Ph.D., PMP U.S.

Project Jack Rabbit: Spring 2010 Ammonia and Chlorine Field Releases

Shannon B. Fox, Ph.D., PMP

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Science and Technology Directorate

Chemical Security Analysis Center

Briefing to Clorosur

Sao Paulo, Brazil

November 7, 2012

1

Objectives:

� Part of U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security

� Chemical hazard awareness, assessment and analysis

� Science-based assessment of risk

� Integration and analysis of chemical threat information and data

� Reachback capability to provide expert analysis support

� Fusion of information from different communities

Mission: To provide analysis and scientific assessment of the chemical threat against the American homeland and American public.

BasicScience

ChemicalIndustry

IntelligenceCommunity

OperationalRequirements

CSAC

Chemical Security Analysis Center

2

Range of Chemical Hazards

Toxic Industrial Chemicals

Pesticides

Pharmaceuticals

Chem Warfare Agents

Although Toxic Industrial Chemicals yield lower consequences, they

pose the larger risk due to availability and volume produced/

transported.

Non-Proteinaceous Toxins

Increasing Toxicity/Consequences

3

Transportation Risk• Chlorine is essential to modern life

• Hundreds of millions of tons are transported in U.S. annually by road, water, rail

• Chemicals are heavily trafficked in bulk through High-Threat Urban Areas

• A chemical in transport is an potential target for terrorism:

• No need for acquisition

• High toxicity of many industrial chemicals creates the potential for mass casualties in large-scale releases

• Built-in delivery system to the target (hijack or attack in place)

• Minimal security/countermeasures available

4

Modeling of Large-Scale TIH Releases• DHS needs to understand the behavior and consequences of a large-

scale toxic chemical transport releases to improve modeling and predictive capabilities

• Currently, expected behavior is extrapolated from experiments involving other gases, smaller scale, different objectives

• Actual large-scale testing with TIH chemical of concern is critical to obtain representative data for improved modeling

• Improvements made by this effort will enable:

• Experimentally validated modeling inputs, methodologies

• Better planning, emergency response procedures

• Vulnerability and impact reduction - Risk mitigation

5

SCIPUFF 220

m

75 m

WIN

D D

irection

3-5 s

m/

220

m

75 m

WIN

D D

irection

3-5 s

m/

14 Dead Animals and 3 Dead

People inside of Ellipse onlyLimit of

Vegetation

Damage6

Chlorine Railcar Release – MacDona, Texas

• Train collision in 2004 • 60 tons of chlorine released from rail car

• 3 killed, 43 hospitalized• Models and observed impact do not match

Project Jack Rabbit - Overview

• CSAC funded to conduct field-releases of 2 tons of ammonia and chlorine in Spring 2010

• Releases configured to approximate release parameters and conditions hypothesized to exist at the large-scale

• Objectives:

– Collect data on the source behavior of rapid, large-scale releases for the development of improved modeling source terms

– Characterize the vapor/aerosol cloud movement

– Determine if ammonia can act as chlorine surrogate

– Evaluate fielded instrumentation and develop and evaluate testing methodology for future additional and potentially larger-scale tests

7

Chemical Road Rail Water Total % of Total

Ammonia (NH3) 5,793,000 3,470,592 1,718,974 10,982,566 52.8%

Chlorine (Cl2) 724,000 3,750,372 137,202 4,611,574 22.2%

Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4) 257,000 207,560 2,057,721 2,522,281 12.1%

Acrylonitrile (C3H3N) 29,000 277,200 671,474 977,674 4.7%

Ethylene Oxide (C2H4O) 106,000 671,260 1,132 778,392 3.7%

Hydrogen Fluoride (HF) 29,000 264,560 293,560 1.4%

Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) 72,000 172,480 361 244,841 1.2%

Hydrogen Chloride (HCl) 2,000 8,400 166,027 176,427 0.8%

Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) 33,000 31,600 64,600 0.3%

Bromine (Br2) 61,000 61,000 0.3%

Nitric Acid (HNO3) 3,000 35,800 44 38,844 0.2%

~75%

~95%

~99%

Identification of Chlorine and

Ammonia as Highest Priority TICs

8

Domestic Shipping Totals by Route (U.S. Tons)

TIC

Volatility

AEGL-3 Rail Road Water Total

Chlorine 379,687 160,000 38,500 11,000 84,290

Ammonia 8,824 3,400 7,200 3,200 4,659

Hydrogen Chloride 461,095 440 130 16,000 3,689

Sulfur Dioxide 79,000 1,500 800 6 948

Hydrogen Fluoride 27,140 800 110 0 380

Ethylene Oxide 8,557 650 130 2 317

Hydrogen Cyanide 64,431 230 300 0 193

• Numerical down-select of Toxic Inhalation Hazards (TIHs) based upon:

• Volatility/Toxicity

• Availability

• The approximate downwind inhalation hazard: Volatility/AEGL-3

• Chlorine and Ammonia represent the top two TIHs for consideration

Selection of Chlorine and Ammonia as

Test Chemicals

9

~90%

~95%

10

Jack Rabbit Participating Organizations

TSASponsor

DHS-CSACManager

DugwayPerformer

Signature

Science, Inc.

• Soil Core Sampling• Reaction Analysis

• Cloud Concentration• Source Analysis

Naval Surface Warfare Center - Dahlgren



• Corrosive effects on military electronics• On-site source modeling

• Instrumentation deployment – AreaRAE and MiniRAE detectors• Fielding DHS S&T detectors• Live plume mapping

Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health

Air Force Research LabWright Patterson AFB



• Compatibility testing with aircraft materials• Long-term stress testing

Jack Rabbit

• CFD Modeling • On-site modeling support• Source analysis

Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt (FFI) The Norwegian Defense Research

EstablishmentSafer Systems, Inc.

• Deployed line-of-sightInfrared Boreal Laser•Detection system

10

Air Force

Research Lab

Jack Rabbit Trials

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• Conducted during 4 weeks, Apr-May 2010 with Ammonia and Chlorine

• 1 ton (pilot) and 2 ton (record) releases

• Total of 10 successful trials (2 pilot, 8 record)

• Extensive array of instrumentation deployedempirically recording various aspects of the chemical releases

• High definition video documentation captured from multiple angles

• 3-Dimensional computerized cloud reconstructions

• First recorded observation of previously unreported violent chemical eruptions (Rapid Phase Transitions)

• Vast quantities of data generated

• Weather variation provided a rangeof different conditions

Dissemination

• A modified 500-gallon propane tank used to contain and release 2 tons of chlorine

• A 1000-gallon tank is required for ammonia in order to contain 2 tons, due to its lower liquid density

• The tank rests and is secured onto a 2 meter high cradle made of steel.

• The cradle is welded to a large, flat steel plate to secure it from moving due to the force of the escaping material.

• The tank is modified with a 3-inch hole at the bottom, exiting through a 3-inch ball-valve.

• Material released by remotely opening valve

• Release rates of 2 tons in approximately 1 minute

3-inch ball valve

Disseminator

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Release Basin

• 50 meters in diameter, 2 meters deep

• 7:1 grade slope to rim

• 9:1 grade slope beyond rim

• Disseminator valve exactly 2 meters above floor of basin

• Designed to minimize cross-wind interaction & turbulence during release

• Local containment of material to:

– Minimize air entrainment

– Simulate trapping/blocking terrain features

– Provide optimal focus area for instrument deployment

13

Instrumentation - Overview• Video Cameras

– 3 long range, HD

– 3 long range, Infrared

– 2 mid-range, overhead

– 2 at point of release, HD

• Point Detection– 15 UV/Vis Jaz

– 20 UV/Vis Canary

– 35 Bubblers

– 50+ MiniRAE, AreaRAE

• Standoff Detection– 3 UV/Sentry devices

– 5 FTIR

• Temperature Data

– 168 Thermocouples (varying heights and in ground)

• Meteorological

– Sonic Anemometers

– SODAR

– 16 Tripod-Mounted PWIDS

– 32-m towers (3)

– 15 PWIDS levels

– 15 Ultrasonic levels

14

Release Data SummaryDate 27-Apr 1-May 3-May 4-May 5-May 7-May 20-May 21-May

Time 0715 0820 0720 0740 0805 0650 0645 0650

Chemical NH3 NH3 Cl2 Cl2 Cl2 Cl2 NH3 NH3

2-m Wind Speed (m/s) 1.3 1.5 1.6 6.1 1.5 1.1 1.3 3.5

8-m Wind Speed (m/s) 1.4 0.3 1.9 7.6 1.5 2.0

Pit Wind Speed (m/s) 1.0 0.6 1.4 5.8 1.0 1.2

Pit Wind Bearing (DTN) 345 131 15 17 231 192

2-m air temperature (C) 7.4 5.8 3.5 6.1 6.2 -2.8 10.7 8.1

8-m Air Temp (C) 6.7 3.8 3.9 6.8 5.6 1.0

Ground Temp (C) 8.7 6.1 7.0 10.0 8.2 4.5

Relative Humidity 55 55 55 40 30 60 70 55

Tank Temp (C) 11.1 5.2 1.9 5.8 3.7 0.0 16.1 16.7

Atmospheric Stability D D E D E E D D

Liquid Empty Time (s) 70 70 35 35 40 50 20 25

Tank Empty Time (s) 115 120 65 65 70 70 50 60

Final Tank Temp (C) -38.5 -38.8 -37.5 -37.1 -37.4 -37.7 -33.8 -31.4

Cloud Temp (C) -26 -33.8 -11 -8 -17

*Data Summary Credited to Tim Bauer, NSWC 15

Jack Rabbit Release Videos

Chlorine Trials

Ammonia Trials

16

Trial Date Chemical Amount

Pilot-NH3

07-APR-10 Ammonia 1 Ton

Pilot-Cl2

08-APR-10 Chlorine 1 Ton

01-RA 27-APR-10 Ammonia 2 Tons

02-RA 01-MAY-10 Ammonia 2 Tons

03-RC 03-MAY-10 Chlorine 2 Tons






CSAC-17

• Breaches in tank liquid space experience an initial period of

Bernoulli Flow (all liquid release), followed by Omega Flow

(mixed phase release)

• Jet impingement upon surfaces results in a much larger

fraction of released material forming a liquid pool

• Pool formation and soil retention contributes to secondary

cloud formation and an extended release

• Cloud trapping and liquid

pool result in significantly

lower peak concentrations

in cloud’s path downwind

17

Jack Rabbit Data Analysis

CSAC-18

Jack Rabbit Data Analysis – cont.• Rapid Phase Transition (RPT) eruptions

present a previously unknown hazard & are more likely with impingement

• Micrometeorology analysis revealed effects of stability and boundary layer

• Turbulent mixing is initially resisted by dense gas, resulting in cloud persistence near release

18

• Cloud behavior analysis revealed that downwind concentration is significantly attenuated by initial dense gas trapping

• Project reports on project have been designated “Public Release” and will be available through the Jack Rabbit Database, hosted at Dugway Proving Ground (DPG):

https://jr-dpg.dpg.army.mil

CSAC-19

Future Efforts

• Funding is being pursued for a Jack Rabbit follow-on program

• Larger-scale chlorine release trials (≥ 5 tons)

• Expanded test methodology and equipment

• Exploration of different terrain and environmental features

• Mock urban test bed to be constructed for experimentation to assess impact and improve modeling in these environments:

• Model buildings, vehicles, equipment, electronics, vegetation, and many other objects found in an urban setting included

• Investigation of building infiltration indoor concentration

• Analysis of gravity and terrain-driven dense gas flow,

• Assessment of infrastructure damage and exposure effects, surface chemical reactions, and

• Evaluation of chemical detection and warning approaches

19

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Project Jack Rabbit - Sonmi-819sonmi.weebly.com/uploads/2/4/7/4/24749526/project...Project Jack Rabbit: Spring 2010 Ammonia and Chlorine Field Releases Shannon B. Fox, Ph.D., PMP U.S.

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