The increasing demand for natural gas could increase the number and frequency of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker imports and exports at ports across the United States. Because of the increasing number of shipments and the number of possible new facilities, concerns about the potential safety of the public and property from an accidental, and even more importantly intentional spills, have increased. While improvements have been made over the past decade in assessing hazards from LNG spills, the existing experimental data is much smaller in size and scale than many postulated large accidental and intentional spills. Since the physics and hazards from a fire change with fire size, there are concerns about the adequacy of current hazard prediction techniques for large LNG spills and fires. To address these concerns, the United States (US) Congress funded the Department of Energy (DOE) in 2008 to conduct a series of laboratory and large-scale LNG pool fire experiments at Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This report presents the test data and results of two types of fire experiments. A series of four reduced-scale (gas burner) tests (yielding 22 sets of data) were conducted in 2007 and 2008 at Sandia"s Thermal Test Complex (TTC) to assess flame height to fire diameter ratios as a function of nondimensional heat release rates for extrapolation to large-scale LNG fires. The large-scale LNG pool fire experiments were conducted in a 120 m diameter pond specially designed and constructed in Sandia"s Area III large-scale test complex. Two fire tests of LNG spills on water producing pools of 21 and 83 m in diameter were conducted in 2009 to improve the understanding of flame height, smoke production, and burn rate and therefore the physics and hazards of large LNG spills and fires. 4
From 1994 through 2005, the Environmental Management Department of Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) at the Tonopah Test Range (TTR), NV, has collected soil samples at numerous locations on-site, on the perimeter, and off-site for the purpose of determining potential impacts to the environs from operations at TTR. These samples were submitted to an analytical laboratory of metal-in-soil analyses. Intercomparisons of these results were then made to determine if there was any statistical difference between on-site, perimeter, and off-site samples, or if there were increasing or decreasing trends which indicated that further investigation may be warranted. This work provided the SNL Environmental Management Department with a sound baseline data reference against which to compare future operational impacts. In addition, it demonstrates the commitment that the Laboratories have to go beyond mere compliance to achieve excellence in its operations. This data is presented in graphical format with narrative commentaries on particular items of interest.3 4
Note to the ReaderThe SNL/NM Annual Site Environmental Report presents summary data regarding environmental performance and compliance with environmental standards and requirements. In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy views this document as a valuable tool for maintaining a dialogue with our community about the environmental health of this site. We continually strive to improve the quality of the contents as well as to include information that is important to you.
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