Investigation report on Ammonia gas leak

A few posts back, I had written about the ammonia gas leak in a Bangladesh DAP plant that affected many. The district administration's investigation has determined the following:

• The company constructed the 500-tonnes reserve tank in 2006.The tank was filled with 250 tonnes of ammonia gas when it collapsed on the night of Aug 22.
•  Tank was maintained by unskilled staff. Five essential safety equipment, that were needed to prevent the tank’s collapse, had been out of commission for a long time.“The two pressure gauges of the tank were out of order long before the accident took place. Both the pressure transmitters of the reserve tank were inoperative. The condenser, safety valves and pressure vent were also out of order,” said the investigator. 
•  The factory’s operation department had informed the maintenance department about the faults but they did not pay heed
• The gas spread far and wide so rapidly because the fire hydrant system of the fertliser factory did not work after the accident.”

Read the article on the investigation in this link.

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Molten sulphur tank explosion in refinery in USA

News reports coming in of a molten sulphur tank explosion in a refinery in USA . No one was injured. Read about the incident and see the video in this link


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Confined space incident during rubber lining of a tank

Two workers who were involved in the rubber lining of a metallic tank located in a university campus died as a result of the confined space becoming full of chemical vapours. Basic precautions were not taken. The government appointed a fact finding team whose report you can read in this link.
Read another article on the safety of unorganised labourers in this link.


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Containing the contents - Chernobyl

The massive effort to provide a containment for the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactors is worth a read. Funded by the G7 countries along with contributions fom many countries, the USD 1.7 billion effort is to construct " A New Safe Confinement that is 110 metres high and 165 metres long, and has a span of 260 metres and a lifetime of a minimum of 100 years. When completed, the New Safe Confinement will prevent the release of contaminated material from the present shelter and at the same time protect the structure from external impacts such as extreme weather.The new structure will be an extraordinary landmark, tall enough to house London’s St Paul’s or Paris’ Notre Dame cathedrals, To minimise the risk of workers’ exposure to radiation, it has been assembled in the vicinity of the site and will be slid into position before the end of 2016.The arch-shaped structure will weigh more than 30,000 tons. Its frame is a huge lattice construction of tubular steel members, supported by two longitudinal concrete beams.It will provide a safe working environment equipped with heavy duty cranes for the future dismantling of the shelter and waste management after the completion of the NSC.It will be strong enough to withstand a tornado and its sophisticated ventilation system will eliminate the risk of corrosion, ensuring that there is no need to replace the coating and expose workers to radiation during the structure’s lifetime."

Read more about it in the EBRD website in this link.

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Training tackles memory distortion to improve process safety

 Training tackles memory distortion to improve process safety


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