Evaluation and mitigation of fire and explosion risks due to the presence of aerosol cans in metal waste recycling

Agnès Janes (1) , Fabrice Malet (2)

1 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
2 MODYS - MOndes et DYnamiques des Sociétés

In France, empty household aerosol cans are collected for recycling and separated together with aluminum and steel household wastes. This process requires storage and crushing in a press, the latter operation leading, as unavoidable consequence, to random perforation of aerosol cans. As these include flammable gaseous, liquid or liquefied chemical compounds, this process can induce fire and explosion hazards. Such incidents have been reported by many waste sorting plants in France. This work analyses the potential hazards associated to full or empty aerosol cans recycling. Three types of hazardous scenarios have been identified: 1) an ignition of an explosive atmosphere (ATEX), 2) a Boiling Liquid Expanded Vapour Explosion (BLEVE) occurrence and 3) a liquid pool fire. In each case, the potential effects have been quantified. Then, technical and organizational solutions are proposed to prevent these fires and explosions and to mitigate their effects, regarding hazards associated to the treatment of aerosols in waste sorting plants.

Keywords: METAL WASTE RECYCLING; AEROSOLS FIRE HAZARD; EXPLOSION HAZARD; EXPLOSIVE ATMOSPHERE

Domains: Environmental Engineering

Agnès Janes, Fabrice Malet. Evaluation and mitigation of fire and explosion risks due to the presence of aerosol cans in metal waste recycling. Hazards 26, May 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. ⟨ineris-01863014⟩