Evaluating the Impact of HCL Atmospheric Dispersion caused by an Aborted Rocket Launch in different Stability Conditions

Erick Giovani Sperandio Nascimento, Noéle Bissoli Perini de Souza, Davidson Martins Moreira

aborted rocket launch, CMAQ, HCl dispersion, MSRED, rocket exhaust cloud.

An aborted rocket launch may occur because of explosions during pre-launch operations or launch performance, which generates a huge cloud near ground level comprising hot buoyant exhaust products. This action occur within a few minutes, and populated areas near the launch centre may be exposed to high levels of hazardous pollutant concentrations within a short time scale — from minutes to a couple of hours. Although aborted rocket launch events do not occur frequently, the occurrence rate has increased in the past few years, making it mandatory to perform short and long-range assessments to evaluate the impact of such operations on the air quality of a region. In this work, we use a modern approach based on the Model for Simulating the Rocket Exhaust Dispersion (MSRED) and its modelling system to report the simulated impact of a hydrogen chloride (HCl) exhaust cloud, formed during a hypothetical aborted rocket launch, on the atmosphere near the earth’s surface at the Alcantara Launch Center, Brazil’s space-port. The results show that when a launch occurs under stable atmospheric conditions, the HCl concentrations near the ground can reach levels that are extremely hazardous to human health.

10.22161/ijaers.6764