"A risk assessment of the Piql Services" by FFI

occurs late morning, during business hours.

The scenario takes place while the piqlFilm is in storage in the piqlVault. The piqlVault system is placed in a storage room located on the lower floor or basement of an office building. The vault is regulated through ventilation to uphold the ISO standards governing levels of humidity and temperature, but the day is very hot and humid. All safety measures required by Piql AS are in place, see section 5.5.1 for details. Of special notice here: the slight positive air pressure maintained inside the piqlVault slows the influx of the gas some, but due to the constant position of the open door, this advantage is soon lost.

Vault description

Local safety measures

Local security measures

All security measures required by Piql AS are in place.

Consequences

The physical infrastructure of the building and the storage room is not affected.

Outer building

The piqlVault system is not notably affected by the chlorine gas. The aluminium in the grid can react with the gas, but the effects are delayed due to a protective oxide layer on the aluminium. With the kind of concentrations that we can assume is present (not very concentrated), the piqlVault system should be safe. The placement of vault in this case adds to the damage of the scenario and the vulnerability to the film, as chlorine is heavier than air and will therefore settle in low-lying areas. The piqlBoxes, especially the ones near the bottom of the grid, as chlorine is a low-lying gas, are affected by the gas. The chemical bonds in polymer are not very strong, so the effects from the reactive gas can make the bonds break and cause the PP in the box to crack. However, the effects of chlorine gas is worse the higher the temperature and the more humidity in the air. At 20° Celsius and normal levels of humidity, the damage is almost non-existent. There need to be temperatures of 60° Celsius and large amounts of water in the air for there to be severe damage. Under these conditions the PP would be in very bad shape. More important, however, in this scenario is the fact that the piqlBox is not air- tight, which means that the corrosive gas comes in contact with the piqlFilm. The piqlFilms near the bottom of the grid are highly affected by the reactive gas. The PET of the base of the film is resistant to chlorine gas which is dry at 15° Celsius, but not resistant at 66° Celsius. When the gas is wet, however, the PET is not resistant at either temperature. That means that a sufficient level of humidity in the air can make the chlorine gas cause severe damage to the base of the piqlFilm.

Vault

Box

Film

109

FFI-RAPPORT 16/00707