Environmental Impact Modeling for Transportation of Hazardous Liquids

Abstract

Modeling the effects of leakage in the transport of hazardous liquids is a highly topical issue, not only in the field of environmental engineering. This article’s introduction presents relevant information and statistical sources, analyzes selected scientific and professional publications, and characterizes the results of selected research projects. The applied approaches, methods, and results of our research specify the processes of developing and testing a theoretical model of spreading the impacts of leakage of hazardous liquids on biological components of the environment. The proposed model for predicting the environmental impacts of hazardous liquid (HL) leakage during transport is a crucial risk management tool in the planning of transport of dangerous goods. It also enables the creation of comprehensive information systems that monitor the transport unit in real-time, indicate the presence of significant habitats along the transport route, and draw attention to possible threats, in particular to the health and lives of people and the environment. The main result of the presented research is the application of a computational model for determining the parameters of the dangerous zone in case of HL leakage and its graphical plotting along the transport route, estimating the probability of impacting the selected place by leaking HL. The model application results are presented in the form of calculated frequency of impacting the set of points in the vicinity of the HL transport route. Defined standardized frequencies of HL infiltration above a specified limit in liters per square meter in the event of leakage of the entire volume of HL from a road tanker (leaked volume of 30 m3) form the basic set of information for creating relevant risk maps near busy traffic routes and subsequent selection of ecologically and spatially optimal routes.