Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
TABLE 2.1 Estimated Releases of Methanol in the United States by
Industrial Sources
2006 (million
pounds/year)
2007 (million
pounds/year)
Reported Release to
Atmosphere
145
129
Underground injection
19
13
Land
8
4
Surface water
6
5
Total releases
178
151
Source: USEPA (2009).
(SDWA) includes methanol monitoring requirements. Thus, national
monitoring data sets and information on methanol occurrence in air or
water are not available (Zogorski et al., 1997).
This chapter evaluates the fate and transport of methanol in soil,
groundwater, and surface water in the context of three methanol release
scenarios. The three scenarios are as follows:
Scenario 1: Rail Car or Tank Truck Release. Most of the methanol
used in North America is imported from overseas. In one esti-
mate,
7.1 million metric tons was imported in 2006 (PCI-
Ockerbloom & Co. Inc., as cited in Alliance Consulting Interna-
tional, 2008). Another estimate puts this value at 5.4million
metric tons as of 2002 (DeWitt, 2002). Once it reaches a port,
it must be transported via rail or truck to its final destination.
Approximately 1.6 million “merchant” metric tons produced per
year in North America (as of 2006) often must be transported to
the point of use as well (PCI-Ockerbloom & Co. Inc., 2008). Rail
cars and tanker trucks are the two primary land-based methods of
inland transportation of methanol (DeWitt, 2002). An accidental
release from a rail car or tank truck could take place in a variety
of physiogeographical settings, depending on railway and high-
way alignments, and possibly including environmentally impor-
tant features such as the desert, the coast, or drinking water
sources. A single rail car could release as much as 30,000 gallons
