Using water on an Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3) release

Most emergency responders know that NH3 loves water and well-placed fog pattern will go a long way to “scrubbing” a large NH3 cloud.  But after what we witnessed on Thursday morning, I do wonder if we all know the do’s and don’ts of using water around NH3.  Yes, the incident Thursday was catastrophic and impacted hundreds of citizens and responders, but does this permit actions that are not in-line with “recognized practices”?  This past week I was at a power plant working with them in their storage and handling of their NH3.  In the power industry, their RAGAGEP of choice for their “covered process” is the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) 2.1 – Requirements for the Storage and Handling of Anhydrous Ammonia.  And this RAGAGEP contains some specific advice on how to handle vapor releases from containers and some may find this advice very different in how they have been trained in ER training sessions…

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