The hazards of thermal expansion

Many plant personnel do not give importance to thermal expansion safety valves. These are typically small valves and often, the isolation valves are kept closed as they pass. It is human tendency to ignore small things but in process safety it is the small things that cause big disasters!

The CSB had published a good case study on a fatality that occurred due to the bursting of a heat exchanger due to thermal expansion of trapped ammonia. It is worth reading and sharing with all your colleagues. Read it in this link.
The photo at the left is courtesy of the CSB.
Read another incident in this post. 
Read a third incident in this post