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Dangerous (toxic) atmospheres in UK wood pellet and wood chip fuel storage
There is growing use of wood pellet and wood chip boilers in the UK. Elsewhere fatalities have been reported, caused by carbon monoxide poisoning following entry into wood pellet storage areas. The aim of this work was to obtain information on how safely these two fuels are being stored in the UK. S...
Autores principales: | , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Taylor & Francis
2016
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5020344/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27030057 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2016.1167279 |
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author | Simpson, Andrew T. Hemingway, Michael A. Seymour, Cliff |
author_facet | Simpson, Andrew T. Hemingway, Michael A. Seymour, Cliff |
author_sort | Simpson, Andrew T. |
collection | PubMed |
description | There is growing use of wood pellet and wood chip boilers in the UK. Elsewhere fatalities have been reported, caused by carbon monoxide poisoning following entry into wood pellet storage areas. The aim of this work was to obtain information on how safely these two fuels are being stored in the UK. Site visits were made to six small-scale boiler systems and one large-scale pellet warehouse, to assess storage practice, risk management systems and controls, user knowledge, and potential for exposure to dangerous atmospheres. Real time measurements were made of gases in the store rooms and during laboratory tests on pellets and chips. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted and the microbiological content of the fuel was also determined. Knowledge of the hazards associated with these fuels, including confined space entry, was found to be limited at the smaller sites, but greater at the large pellet warehouse. There has been limited risk communication between companies supplying and maintaining boilers, those manufacturing and supplying fuel, and users. Risk is controlled by restricting access to the store rooms with locked entries; some store rooms have warning signs and carbon monoxide alarms. Nevertheless, some store rooms are accessed for inspection and maintenance. Laboratory tests showed that potentially dangerous atmospheres of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, with depleted levels of oxygen may be generated by these fuels, but this was not observed at the sites visited. Unplanned ventilation within store rooms was thought to be reducing the build-up of dangerous atmospheres. Microbiological contamination was confined to wood chips. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5020344 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2016 |
publisher | Taylor & Francis |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-50203442016-09-29 Dangerous (toxic) atmospheres in UK wood pellet and wood chip fuel storage Simpson, Andrew T. Hemingway, Michael A. Seymour, Cliff J Occup Environ Hyg Original Articles There is growing use of wood pellet and wood chip boilers in the UK. Elsewhere fatalities have been reported, caused by carbon monoxide poisoning following entry into wood pellet storage areas. The aim of this work was to obtain information on how safely these two fuels are being stored in the UK. Site visits were made to six small-scale boiler systems and one large-scale pellet warehouse, to assess storage practice, risk management systems and controls, user knowledge, and potential for exposure to dangerous atmospheres. Real time measurements were made of gases in the store rooms and during laboratory tests on pellets and chips. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted and the microbiological content of the fuel was also determined. Knowledge of the hazards associated with these fuels, including confined space entry, was found to be limited at the smaller sites, but greater at the large pellet warehouse. There has been limited risk communication between companies supplying and maintaining boilers, those manufacturing and supplying fuel, and users. Risk is controlled by restricting access to the store rooms with locked entries; some store rooms have warning signs and carbon monoxide alarms. Nevertheless, some store rooms are accessed for inspection and maintenance. Laboratory tests showed that potentially dangerous atmospheres of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, with depleted levels of oxygen may be generated by these fuels, but this was not observed at the sites visited. Unplanned ventilation within store rooms was thought to be reducing the build-up of dangerous atmospheres. Microbiological contamination was confined to wood chips. Taylor & Francis 2016-09-01 2016-07-20 /pmc/articles/PMC5020344/ /pubmed/27030057 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2016.1167279 Text en © 2016 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis This is an Open Access article. Non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly attributed, cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way, is permitted. The moral rights of the named author(s) have been asserted. |
spellingShingle | Original Articles Simpson, Andrew T. Hemingway, Michael A. Seymour, Cliff Dangerous (toxic) atmospheres in UK wood pellet and wood chip fuel storage |
title | Dangerous (toxic) atmospheres in UK wood pellet and wood chip fuel storage |
title_full | Dangerous (toxic) atmospheres in UK wood pellet and wood chip fuel storage |
title_fullStr | Dangerous (toxic) atmospheres in UK wood pellet and wood chip fuel storage |
title_full_unstemmed | Dangerous (toxic) atmospheres in UK wood pellet and wood chip fuel storage |
title_short | Dangerous (toxic) atmospheres in UK wood pellet and wood chip fuel storage |
title_sort | dangerous (toxic) atmospheres in uk wood pellet and wood chip fuel storage |
topic | Original Articles |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5020344/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27030057 http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2016.1167279 |
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