Summary
On the days leading to January 6, 2014, unusual weather conditions with high-temperature variations caused a large pressure rise inside the three storage vessels at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling facility. The pressure increase reached the point where the relief valve on each vessel opened automatically and released gas to the atmosphere. However, the valves experienced valve chatter, were damaged during the event and did not reclose as designed.
Furthermore, the discharge piping structure downstream from the relief valves collapsed. The investigation found that the collapsed discharge piping was self-supporting, which is against the prevailing code recommendation, and insufficiently braced to resist the reaction forces generated by the high-pressure gas discharge.
Lessons Learned