Risk assessment of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) fractions

Abstract

Leakages of oil products derived from petroleum can affect the environment, even causing risks to human. In order to study all the substances that usually are found in a petroleum leakage, it becomes interesting to apply the study to the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPH) fractions which have similar physico-chemical properties. The purpose of this paper is to perform a suitable risk specific site analysis for TPH fractions distribution and concentration, applying the RBCA (Risk Based Corrective Action) framework. As a case of study, this work is applied to a high populated area of a Spanish medium size city (Santander, approximately 182000 inhabitants). This simulation provides useful information about the pathways with higher risks, enabling to focus the analysis onto the parameters that mainly affect the risk assessment. This approach will simplify future site specific risk assessment and the corresponding decision making.