Analyzing Risks Management: Oil and Hydrogen Sulfide Gas, Human Health Effects of Exposure to H2S (Essay Sample)

RISKS MANAGEMENT RESEARCH PROPOSAL
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Introduction
The paper is focused on describing the effects of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and other hydrocarbons on human health, safety and their environment. As far as this report is concerned, the management strategies of these risks are in all the above situations. First, the research highlights an overview of H2S, its presence in natural gases and oil, and potential emission sources from different operational activities. After that, the need for a literature review is an important part of the research as realized from the available sources in community fitness, epidemiology, health reports of industry and agencies, and other sources of the environment and regulatory bodies that address human health effects from H2S exposure. Both acute and chronic effects take place in the oil and gas production sites. From the data, it is possible to build a table of the health records indicating the effects of H2S and other hydrocarbons at different levels of various kinds of the exposure lengths.
The experience about the impacts of H2S has made the hazards caused by exposure to the gas at high concentrations to be understood well. OSHA (Occupational Health and Safety Administration) is a concerned organization that already recognizes the adverse risks that result from refining of petroleum as a source of fuel. These side effects cause health problems to both workers and the surrounding population. The impacts of this nature tend to persist and may affect several generations that emerge later, long after the associated activities. OSHA, in its endeavors, continues to influence actions that aim to cut the amounts of H2S and other hydrocarbons resulting to climate change. Although with limitation, there is equipment that helps in detecting the amount of H2S in the atmosphere. One of the disadvantages that the gadget has is that they are incapable of detecting concentrations below 1 ppm.
Oil and Hydrogen Sulfide Gas
Hydrogen sulfide naturally occurs in crude oil as well as in natural gasses. Petroleum results from the thermal conversation, whereby the decomposing organic matter remains trapped leading to natural gas and petroleum in sedimentary rocks. While breakdown process takes place, high-sulfur generates sulfide. Methane predominates in the natural gas, with 80%, and the other hydrocarbons such as ethane, butane, propane account for the 20%. Natural gas has contaminants that are removed from the processing facilities. These include sand, water, steam, carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen and uncommon gasses (neon, helium, and hydrogen sulfide). H2S predominates as impurity of the natural gas.
When the amount of natural gas is high and exceeding 5.7 mg/Nm3, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) describes natural gas as sour. Routine ‘sweetening’ of the acid gas takes place at the processing facilities through a process called desulfurization. The sweetening process helps in removing H2S up to 95% in an amine solution by absorption. Additional ways that come in as substitutes include carbonization processes, physical absorption, and robust bed absorbents.
H2S in the Environment
Researchers believe that natural atmospheric sources of H2S give much (90%) of the amount of the gas available in the air. The process of decay of animal remains and dead organic plant releases hydrogen sulfide, particularly when the process occurs in wet conditions whereby the amount of oxygen is not enough, such as in the case of swamps. Volcanoes, hot springs and other geothermal sources also emit H2S. There are activities of man who release Oil and natural gas, paper and pulp processing activities cause H2S into the atmosphere. H2S is also present in the tanneries, sewage treatment, and manure-handling plants.
H2S Emissions from Oil and Gas Plants
Research indicates that there is a close link between the oil and gas production and the H2S. The Literature Review section summarizes the research that investigated H2S emissions in the oil and gas facilities at ADCO Company. Due to the rising concern through environmentalists and lobby groups, most nations of the world have come up with departments and organizations that check the H2S concentration at the oil and gas at the refining sites.
According to the research, environmentalists realized that the correspondents in several interviews conducted affirm that petroleum and gas operations emit H2S. The study of ADCO in the literature review section backs up the assertions of existing of the H2S in the air until now. The air is surrounded by the people living close to oil and gas sites of ADCOS and show H2S presence. Petroleum and gas activities may emit H2S accidentally during the prosecution and extraction, transport, storage or processing stages. In the process of extraction, while piping, storing oil on tanks or flaring activities release H2S at wellhead into the air. As a mechanism for safety, flares help in burning the byproducts of gasses that are no longer useful. Flaring is a routine practice that ensures a complete destruction of H2S.
The process of burning hydrogen sulfide produces Sulfur dioxide (SO2) with a sufficient amount of oxygen. In case this is unachievable, H2S finds its way to the atmosphere. According to research, processing plants which accidentally emit H2S, leads to loss of many lives. EPA outlines that ‘well blowouts,’ extinguished flares, line releases and the accidental release of sour gas in low-lying areas, discarded wells, and row leakage that affects the people surrounding these sources and the workers of oil and gas production plants. Blowouts of wells occur under conditions that can barely be controlled from wells, during the processes such as drilling or servicing. These can be attributed to failure to install the counteracting measures such as ‘blowout preventers’ during drilling.
During the production process, it could be as a result of the inability to install a subsurface safety valve. The emission resulted from a 'well blowout' can continue for an unclear timeframe. It is advisable to plug the well after economically recovering all the oil and gas. If a well is poorly sealed, H2S may routinely find its way out into the atmosphere due to the pressure difference. In the research conducted at Whaler’s Cove, Long Beach, California, it indicated precisely this type of H2S emissions takes place. Also, H2S unintentionally gets out into the atmosphere from the oil and natural gas desulfurization’s facilities. These leakages contribute to the lethal forms of the gas in the air.
It is real risk of human being as H2S released from oil and gas processing activities affect their health. Human resources in the oil and gas companies need knowledge on safety actions in case of an accidental release of H2S. For instance, Petroleum Institute of America (API) released recommendations for best practices that help in preventing the H2S concentration that is hazardous to the working environment. There is an anticipated exposure to people living in the surrounding area of the oil and gas refining plants to chronic diseases, but although fragile ambient H2S levels as well as to high-concentration accidentally released. According to the report by EPA (1993), the emissions of H2S from oil and gas production recognizes that a large population may directly or indirectly suffer from the adverse impacts that causes petroleum and gas resource wells to residential areas. Also, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) perceives H2S that, as one life around the wastewater treatment office, there is production of a gas and oil prosecution, a ranch with the store of excrement or containment offices for domesticated animals, or even a landfill.
Literature Review
Adel Al-shammari (2009), surveyed OSHA examination records from 1984 to 1994, reported 80 passing in the Pakistan from a word related presentation to H2S, whereby many people kicked the bucket of the H2S spillage. These passing happened as a result of introducing the specialist to incidental arrivals of H2S in high fixations. The creators compress that versatile H2S alerts could have kept these passing. The general population working and living around the ADCO had the same effects too.
Adel Al-shammari (2009) considered on a literature review about H2S poisoning and referred to a state of collapsing as ‘knockdown’ whereby a person abruptly falls. The same case occurred to oil plant workers and others portrayed the sudden loss of awareness and were taken over after by a fast full recuperation after a brief introduction to high centralization of hydrogen sulfide (e.g., 750-1000 ppm)." However, different discoveries have debated this case of full recuperation taking after a knockdown.
Human Health Effects of Exposure to H2S
These effects primarily rely on the gas and introduction of extension. The urban areas have high ambient level, of the hydrogen sulfide than in the rural areas. For example, in cities, it ranges from 0.11 to 0.33 ppb, because in remote locations it ranges from 0.02 to 0.07 ppb. H2S has a spoiled egg cent at low fixations, and it is simpler to find the gas by its smell focused at low ppb but not underneath below 0.5 ppb. However, it is odorless at concentrations 150 ppb and above, because it quickly overwhelms the smelling senses. Consequently, this pose risks to the human health; particularly the insidious aspect of H2S exposure is delicate. Most impacts on human take place through inhalation, excessive exposure affects the eyes. Since most organ frameworks are helpless against where it belo...