Thanks to Abhay Gujar for this info:
In the current year (2010-11) 4 instances of fires have been reported at oil depots in India:
A fire occurred at a railway siding due to spark from the overhead power line. Reason: Poor maintenance.
A fire incident took place at a Terminal's engineering store due to electrical short circuit.Reason: Poor maintenance.
Another incident took place in the cabin of TT at a Depot.Reason: Poor maintenance of TT and unsafe operating practices.
A fire broke out at a railway siding while loading.Reason: Unsafe practice and non-adherence to safety standards.The company has been advised by OISD to close the railway siding for all operations since it endangers the public life as it is close to the main Delhi-Kolkata railway track.
January 4, 2011
January 3, 2011
Risk factors in the Chemical Industry
An article mentions the risk factors identified by the American Insurance Association after investigating incidents in chemical industries. Some of them are mentioned below:
1. Factory site
(1) vulnerable to earthquakes, floods, storms natural disasters
(2) water is not sufficient
(3) the lack of public Fire Facilities support
(4) high humidity, temperature and other climate change
(5) nearby hazardous impact of large industrial installations
(6) close to highways, railways, airports and other transportation facilities
(7) difficult to safely evacuate
2. Plant layout
(1) process equipment and storage equipment is too intensive
(2) have significant risk and risk-free process safety distance between devices is not enough
(3) expensive equipment too concentrated
(4) the absence of effective protection
(5) boiler, heaters and other sources of ignition too close
(6) with terrain obstacles
3. Structure
(1) supports, doors, walls and other structures are not fire proofed
(2) Electric Equipment without protective measures
(3) inadequate capacity of explosion-proof ventilation
(4) plant is weakened (corrosion)
4. The risk of lack of knowledge of processing material
(1) hazards of mixing raw materials and natural decomposition
(2) potential for gas and dust explosions
(3) not understanding the result of misuse, or poorly controlled process
5. Chemical Technology
(1) inadequate data on the chemical reaction kinetics
(2) lack of knowledgeof the dangerous side effects
(3) does not determine the decomposition energy according to thermodynamics
(4) detection of process abnormalities is not adequate.
6. Material handling
(1) incomplete labeling of products
(2) in adequate Explosion detection/suppression device
7. Maloperation
(1) ignoring maintenance
(2)lack of supervisory role of management
(3) driving and parking plan is inadequate
(4) the lack of emergency shutdown training
(5) not establishing collaboration between operation and security personnel
8. Device Defects
(1) caused by improper selection of equipment corrosion, damage
(2) inadequate equipment, such as the lack of reliable control instrumentation
(3) material fatigue
(4) the metal material is not adequate or no inspection by experts
(5) structural defects
(6) equipment operating above design limits
9. Disaster plan
(1) did not receive strong support from management
(2) the division of responsibilities is not clear
(3) no accident prevention program
Read the article in this link.
1. Factory site
(1) vulnerable to earthquakes, floods, storms natural disasters
(2) water is not sufficient
(3) the lack of public Fire Facilities support
(4) high humidity, temperature and other climate change
(5) nearby hazardous impact of large industrial installations
(6) close to highways, railways, airports and other transportation facilities
(7) difficult to safely evacuate
2. Plant layout
(1) process equipment and storage equipment is too intensive
(2) have significant risk and risk-free process safety distance between devices is not enough
(3) expensive equipment too concentrated
(4) the absence of effective protection
(5) boiler, heaters and other sources of ignition too close
(6) with terrain obstacles
3. Structure
(1) supports, doors, walls and other structures are not fire proofed
(2) Electric Equipment without protective measures
(3) inadequate capacity of explosion-proof ventilation
(4) plant is weakened (corrosion)
4. The risk of lack of knowledge of processing material
(1) hazards of mixing raw materials and natural decomposition
(2) potential for gas and dust explosions
(3) not understanding the result of misuse, or poorly controlled process
5. Chemical Technology
(1) inadequate data on the chemical reaction kinetics
(2) lack of knowledgeof the dangerous side effects
(3) does not determine the decomposition energy according to thermodynamics
(4) detection of process abnormalities is not adequate.
6. Material handling
(1) incomplete labeling of products
(2) in adequate Explosion detection/suppression device
7. Maloperation
(1) ignoring maintenance
(2)lack of supervisory role of management
(3) driving and parking plan is inadequate
(4) the lack of emergency shutdown training
(5) not establishing collaboration between operation and security personnel
8. Device Defects
(1) caused by improper selection of equipment corrosion, damage
(2) inadequate equipment, such as the lack of reliable control instrumentation
(3) material fatigue
(4) the metal material is not adequate or no inspection by experts
(5) structural defects
(6) equipment operating above design limits
9. Disaster plan
(1) did not receive strong support from management
(2) the division of responsibilities is not clear
(3) no accident prevention program
Read the article in this link.
January 2, 2011
Ammonia gas cylinder burst
An incident in an ice factory of an ammonia gas cylinder that burst killing one has occurred in West Bengal. It appears that the factory was located in a residential area and that the Municipality had renewed its licence. The article mentions
"Fire fighters risked their health and entered the factory on Saturday to repair the gas tanker. They lodged an FIR with Titagarh police against the factory owner. Officials of the Disaster Management Group (DGM) and BSF jawans also reached the spot as the tanker repair continued under their supervision. Fire officials complained that the ice factory was being run illegally in a crowded area.
"All the tankers and cylinders containing gas were in use for a long time. They had not been changed despite many tankers and cylinders being outdated. There was also no fire prevention arrangement there," said S Dubey, a senior fire official of North Barrackpore".
I often see gas cylinders being transported in autorickshaws with the cylinder cap protruding out. Authorities must be trained on the dangers of gas cylinders and its handling and transport.
Read more in these links: Link 1, Link 2
"All the tankers and cylinders containing gas were in use for a long time. They had not been changed despite many tankers and cylinders being outdated. There was also no fire prevention arrangement there," said S Dubey, a senior fire official of North Barrackpore".
I often see gas cylinders being transported in autorickshaws with the cylinder cap protruding out. Authorities must be trained on the dangers of gas cylinders and its handling and transport.
Read more in these links: Link 1, Link 2
Natural gas pipeline leak from cavern storage
A natural gas pipeline that was connected to an underground cavern storage has reportedly leaked in the USA. News reports indicate that the gas from the cavern is now being vented to atmosphere.
The article mentions the following:
The following information is being relayed by Incident Command: As a safety precaution, we are still proceeding with the depressurization of the storage cavern as planned. The depressurization began about 3 p.m. Tuesday. We’re still venting gas to the atmosphere. This is a controlled process. The natural gas vented into the atmosphere will dissipate into the air and does not pose a health hazard to neighbors. Since 3 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday), we’ve vented about 400 million cubic feet. The flow rate is currently around 225 million cubic feet per day. We do not have an estimated timeline of how long the venting will take before the pressure in cavern 3 is zero.
Read my earlier post on gas cavern storage.
Now, I do not have the details of the leak but I was wondering why the whole cavern has to be vented.
Read the articles in these links: Article 1, Article 2
The article mentions the following:
The following information is being relayed by Incident Command: As a safety precaution, we are still proceeding with the depressurization of the storage cavern as planned. The depressurization began about 3 p.m. Tuesday. We’re still venting gas to the atmosphere. This is a controlled process. The natural gas vented into the atmosphere will dissipate into the air and does not pose a health hazard to neighbors. Since 3 p.m. yesterday (Tuesday), we’ve vented about 400 million cubic feet. The flow rate is currently around 225 million cubic feet per day. We do not have an estimated timeline of how long the venting will take before the pressure in cavern 3 is zero.
Read my earlier post on gas cavern storage.
Now, I do not have the details of the leak but I was wondering why the whole cavern has to be vented.
Read the articles in these links: Article 1, Article 2
January 1, 2011
Incident Investigations in India - Aviation and Chemical
A news article mentions that an independent committee will henceforth investigate aviation incidents in India. The article mentions
The second involved the Air India Express Dubai-Pune flight, which plunged several feet after the commander left the cockpit and the first officer could not handle the flight controls.
However within days of making the reports public, the DGCA had to pull them off its website after several technical questions about the quality of the probe were raised by air safety experts. For instance, the DGCA investigation report called the Kingfisher Airlines case a "serious incident". Going by International Civil Aviation Organisation's definition though it was clearly an "accident
Currently, DGCA officials conduct probe into most of the accidents. "The same authority cannot be the prosecutor, investigator and the judge," said Zaidi, referring to the need to keep the DGCA away from probe into accidents".
It is high time that accidents in the chemical industry in India are also investigated by an independent agency.
"Currently, DGCA officials conduct probe into most of the accidents. "The same authority cannot be the prosecutor, investigator and the judge," said Zaidi, referring to the need to keep the DGCA away from probe into accidents.
In the last two months, the DGCA has been trying to make the investigation process transparent. For the first time in India, investigation reports of two serious incidents were made public. The first one was the November 2009 Kingfisher Airlines ATR aircraft runway overrun accident at Mumbai airport.
In the last two months, the DGCA has been trying to make the investigation process transparent. For the first time in India, investigation reports of two serious incidents were made public. The first one was the November 2009 Kingfisher Airlines ATR aircraft runway overrun accident at Mumbai airport.
However within days of making the reports public, the DGCA had to pull them off its website after several technical questions about the quality of the probe were raised by air safety experts. For instance, the DGCA investigation report called the Kingfisher Airlines case a "serious incident". Going by International Civil Aviation Organisation's definition though it was clearly an "accident
Currently, DGCA officials conduct probe into most of the accidents. "The same authority cannot be the prosecutor, investigator and the judge," said Zaidi, referring to the need to keep the DGCA away from probe into accidents".
It is high time that accidents in the chemical industry in India are also investigated by an independent agency.
Read the article in this link.
Labels:
Process Safety and Aviation