At about 14:35 on 9/29/12, an explosion and fire occurred in an intermediate tank that temporarily stored bottom liquid from the glacial acrylic acid rectifying column. The fire then spread to the nearby equipment and buildings such as acrylic acid tanks, toluene tank and fire engines.
Fatalities: 1 (firefighter)
Severely injured: 5 (2 firefighters and 3 employees)
Moderately injured: 13 (8 firefighters, 1 police officer and 4 employees)
Lightly injured: 18 (14 firefighters, 1 police officer and 3 employees) Total: 37 persons
Overview of Equipment Involved
The equipment involved was the acrylic acid intermediate tank V-3138, which had a nominal capacity of 70m3. It was an insulated (75mm thick) cone roof type storage tank. The tank was installed in November 1985. It is used as an intermediate tank for temporarily storing the withdrawal liquid from the rectifying column when, for example, the rectifying column stopped.