Gas leak into cooling towers

In an article in the Hindu dated  August 27,2013, it quotes a top official of HPCL saying  "in fact such an accident is first of its kind in the world history. A blast of this kind in the cooling tower in unheard of”.

For those in the process industry, gas leaks into cooling towers are not a one off affair. Heat exchanger tube leaks can cause a surge of gas into cooling towers. I had experienced one such incident  30 years ago. Dr Trevor Kletz, in his book " What Went Wrong" mentions under the category "Heat Exchangers", in page 105, the following incident "A leak in another heat exchanger allowed flammable gas to enter a cooling water return line. Welding, which was being carried out on the cooling tower ignited the gas. The atmosphere in the cooling tower had been tested before work started, 5 hours earlier"

Cooling towers are often falsely thought to be harmless, but they can become killing towers in no time.


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HPCL refinery cooling tower fire incident

Refinery safety mechanism goes for a toss

Vizag refinery fire - a cause for concern

Visiting VIPs' face angry protests

 
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Gas leak into system caused the explosion in the cooling tower in refinery?

 Read this article in the Hindu in this link.

 
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Data on process incidents lacking even in USA

I read an interesting article in Dallas News which mentions that lack of data on chemical accidents is a big issue in USA. Just imagine...if this is the state in the USA which has the Chemical Safety Board and other agencies to investigate process incidents, imagine the plight in India!
The article mentions that out of 22000 chemical units in USA just 100 are members of ACC which requires data on accidents to be made public. The article ends in this note:
“Why would a company or organization do data checking? They might do it because there is a liability risk. They might do it because they feel it’s the right thing to do,” Podgurski said in an interview. “But even in an honest organization, deadline financial pressures will mitigate those efforts.”
Read the article in this link.


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Video of cooling tower fire

Details are still sketchy but it appears that the explosion/fire occurred during charging of water to the tower. We have to wait and see whether the investigation details will be made public. Meanwhile see a video of the fire in this link. 

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Explosion in refinery...

News just filtering in about an explosion in HPCL Visakhapatnam refinery in a cooling tower area. Reportedly one person was killed. Read about the news in this link.

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Ammonia leak incident in Mexico

Thanks to Mr Gnanasundaram for sharing news of an ammonia leak in a ammonia pipeline that has reportedly killed 7 people in Mexico. Apparently the leak occurred during excavation for a highway project. Read about the incident in this link. 


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Ammonia from the wind

I read an article where researchers have managed to produce hydrogen that is needed for ammonia synthesis using wind energy. So, if successful on a large scale, the reformer in the ammonia plant will become redundant.....inherently safer?
Read the article in this link.

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Explosion in plant

An explosion and fire in a chemical recycling plant in the USA is most likely due to a "chemical reaction". It is estimated that about 1000 barrels exploded in the fire. Luckily there were no fatalities. Read about the incident and see videos in this link.


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Human factor incident

In a plant having two identical flare systems, a permit was issued to open a flange in a KO drum connected to a flare which was out of service. the maintenance personnel instead opened a flange of a live flare which was venting as, thus creating an emergency. 
Have you identified such human factor hazards in your facility? Ask your operators and they will tell you.

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Hot work or Cold work?

An incident where a person passed away in a tank explosion revealed that the work permit that was used in the facility was a single permit for both hot work as well as cold work. The issuer had to tick mark whether it was a hot work or cold work to be done and take the appropriate precautions. The permit was issued without marking whether it was hot work or cold work to be carried out. Lack of this clarity led to a hammering operation with a ordinary hammer taking place at the top of the tank which had flammable material inside. The spark produced during hammering fell into the tank through an opening and the tank exploded. 

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5 people killed in ammonia leak in ammonia plant

Thanks to Balu for sending information on a ammonia leak in a ammonia plant that has killed 5 people in Ukraine. You can see the picture of the accident and details in this link.
Read another article in this link. 

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Confined space fire incident

I had just posted the previous post on causes of confined space incident when I was told of an incident where a non flameproof light fitting was taken inside a newly painted vessel to check the interior painting quality. The flammable vapors inside caught fire and two people inside the confined space were seriously injured. Treat your work permit system with respect. Over a period of time they tend to get relaxed.

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Recurring causes of confined space incidents

Read a good article on recurring causes of confined space incidents (with incidents) in this link.

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Pipe explosion during hydrotest

An explosion in a chemical plant in China was reportedly during a hydrotest of a hydrogen pipeline. Read the incident in this link. 

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