Abstract
SO3 and oleums are highly reactive and aggressive materials that are used widely in the process industries. Their main feature is the violent and highly exothermic reaction of SO3 and water that occurs in both the liquid and the vapour phase. On escape to the environment they create liquid pools that can boil or evaporate or even solidify. The pool behaviour is governed by the amount of water available for reaction. SO3 and possibly H2SO4 will evolve from the pool. These vapours react with atmospheric moisture yielding sulphuric acid aerosol that presents a major hazard to humans and to the environment. The behaviour of the cloud (or plume) is very complicated as several interrelated physical and chemical processes are involved. The cloud initially behaves as a dense-gas cloud and only after some distance downwind will it become passive.
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Kapias, T., Griffiths, R.F. (2000). A New Model for Accidental Releases of So3 and Oleum (Cloud Behaviour). In: Gryning, SE., Batchvarova, E. (eds) Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application XIII. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4153-0_54
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4153-0_54
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