October 16, 2021
Protecting Battery Energy Storage Systems from Fire and Explosion Hazards
October 12, 2021
Preventing and Mitigating Oil Fires in Power Plants
October 8, 2021
Does your safety observation system create victims, villains?
October 4, 2021
FATALITY DUE TO EXPLOSION IN NITRIC ACID TANK
A small steel process tank was filled with multiple metal baskets of tantalum capacitors cooked overnight in hot nitric acid. The hot nitric acid was used to remove some of the epoxy resin encapsulant from a tantalum anode. The nitric acid was drained each morning after the capacitors were cooked. The baskets of cooked capacitors were removed and rinsed in water. Mostly tantalum anodes remained. Employee #1 was killed and five other employees were seriously injured as a residue, containing picric acid, exploded, when Employee #1 placed a basket back into the drained tank, presumably to remove more encapsulant. Picric acid (trinitrophenol), and possibly other unstable nitrated compounds, formed in a nitration reaction between nitric acid and the bisphenol moiety of the epoxy resin. These nitrated compounds precipitated out of the nitric acid solution. Over time, as the spent nitric acid was drained from the tank after each batch, the precipitated nitrated compounds would accumulate on the inside surface of the tank. The spent nitric acid was typically used for multiple batches further concentrating unstable nitrated compounds on the tank's surface. Placement of the basket was likely the source of ignition. The explosion was estimated to be of a magnitude similar to an explosion involving more than 5 pounds of trinitrotoluene. The five seriously injured employees were treated for burns and bruises at a local hospital.
Source:OSHA.gov
September 30, 2021
How to Prevent Fire Hazards Associated with Static Electricity
September 26, 2021
September 22, 2021
September 18, 2021
September 10, 2021
September 6, 2021
Employee Inhales Toxic Gas, Later Dies
At 6:15 a.m. on May 22, 2020, an employee and a coworker were in the process of transferring chemicals from totes on a delivery truck into tanks inside the facility. The employee was responsible for hooking up the hose to the fill line on the building and monitoring the transfer from inside the facility. The coworker was responsible for hooking up the hose to the pump and tote inside the truck. The employee accidentally hooked up the bleach hose to the fluoride fill line, causing a reaction when the chemicals mixed. A toxic gas, presumably chlorine, was given off and the employee inhaled the gas. The employee was hospitalized from t he inhalation of the toxic gas, and died from the injury.
Source:OSHA.gov
September 2, 2021
Two Employees Receive Corrosive Burns From Sanitizing
At 12:00 p.m. on April 19, 2019, Employee #1 and Employee #2 were observing a food establishment's sanitation and cleaning process during an investigation. During the observations of the employees and processes, they used a foaming cleanser, quaternary ammonium, and a spot acid clear for cleaning and sanitizing. A pun gent smell believed to be chlorine was being released into the air. Employees #1 and #2 noted that their eyes, skin, and mucosal linings of the mouth, throat, and nose were irritated and burning. Employee #2 measured the quaternary ammonium solution, and it was found to be in excess of 200 PPM, which is higher than recommended levels. Hospitalization was not required.
Source:OSHA.gov
August 28, 2021
Steam cap failure incident
At 8:12 a.m. on November 13, 2020, Employee #1 and a coworker, employed by an HV AC company, were repairing a steam piping system leak in the mechanical room of a medical care campus building. The employees did not utilize a lockout and/or tagout device. Following the repair, as the steam line was being re-energized, a threaded drip cap at the bottom of the vertical steam pipe riser apparently failed. The room immediately filled with pressurized steam. The interior door was in the closed position, and the employees were unable to exit the room. Employee #1 was killed.
Source:Osha.gov
August 24, 2021
August 20, 2021
The dangers of hydrogen generation during chemical cleaning
Real Life Accident: Boiler Explosion Kills Chemical Cleaning Expert On LNG Tanker
By MARS Reports | In: Case Studies | Last Updated on
August 16, 2021
The employees were charging a furnace for an alloy melt. Employee #1 had just placed the final two pigs on the lip of the furnace door and had backed his lift truck at an angle to a distance of 15 feet from the furnace. Employee #3 had previously pushed seven pigs into the furnace. As he pushed the final two pigs into the furnace, there were two separate explosions inside the furnace. The first explosion caused a wave of molten metal to flow over the open furnace sill outward to a distance of 40 feet. The second explosion caused a fan shaped flame that extended out 80 feet from the furnace. The flame touched the left front of Employee #1's lift truck and completely engulfed Employee #3's lift truck (located 30 feet directly in front of the furnace). Employee #2 was standing behind Employee #1's lift truck. All three employees were burned. Employee #3 died of his injuries. Water pockets inside the pigs apparently caused the explosions.
Source: osha.gov
August 12, 2021
August 8, 2021
A game-changing approach to furnace safeguarding
This work is a follow-up article to “Automate furnace controls to improve safety and energy efficiency,” which was published in the June 2014 edition of Hydrocarbon Processing.
August 4, 2021
Role of fired heater safety systems
Role of fired heater safety systems
A fully automated burner management system operating as a SIS for burner control can meet minimum safety targets, improve system availability and lower costs
NIKKI BISHOP and DAVID SHEPPARD
Emerson Process Management
July 30, 2021
Design Options for Overfill Protection for Aboveground Atmospheric Tanks - Best Practices
"Overfilling of a tank is an important safety hazard. It may result in
loss of tank fluid and potentially severe consequences if the fluid is
flammable or environmentally sensitive. Additionally, it is necessary
to preserve the mechanical integrity of a tank. This article first
looks briefly at various ways liquid may overfill a tank, and then
describes different design options as best practices to take care of
situations where overfilling is a possibility. The main paper will
contain diagrams and appropriate references."