Risk Assessment of F-16 Hydrazine Leak Spill Containment

摘要

Hydrazine is a rocket fuel that is used in the space shuttle and in today's modern fighter jets. It is a suspected human carcinogen, corrosive, highly toxic, sensitizer; liver, kidney, nervous system, blood and lung toxin; skin and eye hazard; as well as an odorless, colorless combustible liquid. An amount as little as one ounce may be considered a spill. When a spill occurs, an Emergency Response Team is dispatched to stop and contain that spill. The Emergency Team consists of two elements; the Base Fire Department and the Hydrazine Response Team. This paper presents an analysis of a hydrazine spill. Seven primary events were identified and an Event Tree constructed. The Event Tree graphically represented the process flow. The Event Tree was analyzed and actions that may cause a failure of the process were identified. Next a Preliminary Hazard Analysis (PHA) was performed. An analysis of the PHA helped identify what actions may fail and the way in which these actions might fail. The PHA led to the development of the Fault Tree. The Fault Tree facilitates a systematic computer analysis of the actions involved and their effects. Where applicable, the failure of an action to achieve the desired results was analyzed. The mode in which the failure occurred, the effects of such a failure and an attempt to determine just how critical to the safe stoppage, containment and clean up of the spill that failure was will be analyzed. Safety of the personnel performing the work, safety of the airplane and the safety of the surrounding personnel was considered. Mitigations and interventions were discussed to determine ways to reduce the risks when performing these actions. These mitigations may include additional protective equipment, communications equipment, personnel training, and procedures additional hardware equipment needed for the stoppage, containment and cleanup of the spill.