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Flammability
Flammability is a primary risk in the handling of oil and petroleum cargoes
Toxicity
This factor defines how much the substance being carried is unsafe when touched,
swallowed or inhaled by humans. Chemical cargoes carried in bulk are normally toxic in
nature. Gas generated from the oil/ petroleum product can be considered as toxic as
they contain HC which is harmful for humans.
Polymerisation
This factor is considered for chemical cargo and a type of self-reaction wherein the
gaseous or liquid cargo converts in to viscous liquid or solid. This process is harmful for
the cargo itself.
Reactivity
Reactivity with air, water, other cargo: Some chemical cargoes (for e.g. isocyanates)
may react with water and form toxic vapours or may damage the cargo equipment or
tank in which they are stored.
Some cargo (for e.g. ethers and aldehydes) reacts with air and form unstable oxygen
compound which may lead to explosion
Chemical cargoes if stored together without knowing the result may react with each
other and may lead to fire, explosion, release of toxic vapour and damage to cargo
tanks and equipment. It is important to separately carry each type of cargo as in
chemical tankers, even a bulkhead separation is considered as unsafe. Two different
cargoes need to have a void space or cofferdam between two tanks to avoid such
reaction
Oxygen Deficient
Most of the oil and chemical cargo are carried under inert condition for safety of ship
and crew. The oxygen content in the tank is decreased to safe level for the cargo by
“inerting” the tank. Even after emptying the cargo, the oxygen level will remain at
dangerously low level unless the tank is prepared by use of fresh air supply and
monitoring equipment for continuous checking of O2 level
Corrosive
Some cargoes (for e.g. Sulfuric acid) is highly corrosive to most metals and hence can
effect the internal structure of the tank and cargo equipment. They are normally carried
in stainless steel tanks but it is important that before loading, the tank is free from water,
chlorides, foreign particle or any previous cargo residue. The tank can be passivated
using nitric acid which builds a passive layer of chromium oxide helping in protection
from corrosion.
Hence requirement for controlling the tank atmosphere largely depend on:
It is important to evaluate the atmosphere of the cargo tanks because of the following
reasons-