Evaluation of Partitioning, Persistence and Environmental Risk of An Accidental Discharge of Phenol Using Computational Fluid Dynamics and Geographic Information Systems

Risk assessment is an important factor in all types of Industries, and the process needed to do this, might use validated tools to simulate scenarios given by risk situations. The paper presents a risk evaluation of an accidental discharge of phenol that is stored in ports at the industrial zone of Cartagena (Colombia). This evaluation has been analyzed with the use of computational tools (mainly CFD, and GIS tools) to simulate the dispersion of the material. With the information generated we used fugacity-based steady-state multimedia mass balance unit-world model to assess persistence, and long-range transport potential. With this information an environmental risk analysis can be realized to determine the possible consequences of the discharge. Finally, the study gives bases to establish that phenol partition in the environment is chiefly 1% in air, 2.5% in soil, and 96.4% in water. The persistence of the event is characterized by 9 days of global persistence with a characteristic distance of 258 km, and the emergency plan must consider a 200 m of radius enclosure area.