In order to help ports and crew respond to ammonia leaks or spills, ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) is developing emergency response techniques using modeling and simulation technologies.
To construct a model that would accurately represent ammonia dispersion patterns in the engine room, ABS combined Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with modeling and simulation.
Using this new model, specialists studied the impact of various ventilation approaches on the behavior of ammonia plumes resulting from leakages from the fuel lines, revealing optimum methods to vent the ammonia plume.
A dynamic model will be able to quickly forecast how an ammonia plume will react to a variety of variables, including wind speed and direction, humidity, cubic meters per second, and the distance of the ship from the port. In addition to dispersion analysis, discrete event agent-based simulations will be used to examine how the crew, port authorities, and emergency services react following dispersion.
This is the sweet spot for ABS, the nexus of advanced technology, regulation and safety and we are on course to deliver a significant safety development for the industry
… said Christopher J. Wiernicki, ABS Chairman, President and CEO.
Ammonia safety
Ammonia is highly toxic to both people and marine life, and its powerful smell can be a physical irritant. For instance, in 2021 an ammonia leak killed a seafarer onboard a gas carrier off Malaysia.
