At an Ethylene unit in the Czech Republic (2015), when swapping over cooling water supply lines during a flowmeter calibration, the operator made a simple mistake. While intending to open valve #3 on the spare supply line, he closed the identical valve #2 instead, shutting off all cooling water to the Light Ends columns. A…...
A picture-perfect BLEVE caught on drone cam. A storm chaser captured this fire and BLEVE while traveling to chase a storm in Canada. This was in Sidney, MT, and may be the best training video showing a BLEVE (he has even slowed the footage down so we can see it in slow motion)…. Membership Required...
I have debated this many times and finally just gave up on the industry to do the right thing. And yes, there is a line item in NFPA 350, that I have requested the NFPA to address. But for me, in all my years, we would evacuate the NH3 from the condenser coils and lock…...
A piping fitting failed, resulting in the release of approximately 5 pounds of ammonia (NH3) in the machinery room. The nipple (fitting) between the oil separator and its relief valve cracked and failed to hold ammonia in the piping, resulting in the activation of the exhaust ventilation system. Fittings made of certain materials are incompatible…...
In an ammonia refrigeration system, ammonia in a gas state is compressed from the compressor to high-pressure, high-temperature ammonia gas. The compressed gas heats as its pressurised. The hot gas enters an oil separator, where the ammonia gas and compressor oil is separated so that oil is not carried over with the ammonia gas to…...
This is becoming more common these days; I never encountered it in my career at any of my facilities, as it’s not just a matter of sound engineering. The response I usually get during audits, PHAs, Engineering Code Design reviews is… “show me in the code that says I can’t use a hose on the…...
Another international brand of cooling towers/evaporative condensers is marketing their product as if it is NOT a Confined Space or a Permit-Required Confined Space. For those who follow my safety rampages, know how this enrages me! As shown by the pictures below, this Cooling Tower is without question a Permit-Required Confined Space (PRCS); however, as…...
I see this all the time… E-stops on Hazardous Materials process located at the point of the expected/intended failure point, such as a loading/unloading station. Many safety pros have experience with E-stops as a safety device for machinery/equipment, in which the E-stop is located at the point of potential entrapment inside the machine/equipment. Even ANSI…...
On February 16, 2022, at approximately 10:00 a.m., Employee #1, 28, was disconnecting a pipe and failed to release the pressure inside the pipe. When Employee#1 removed the screws from the pipe flange, the flange broke off and struck the employee’s leg resulting in a tibia fracture. The employee was hospitalized for treatment. No OSHA…...
At 1:00 p.m. on December 10, 2024, Employee #1, 28, was using a torch to heat the steel lid of a tank, intending to cut a hole for installing a level indicator. The flammable gas inside the tank ignited when the torch was applied, causing the tank to rupture. The employee’s lanyard was cut during…...
I have this debate regularly with facilities where I find “short-threading” on their flanges/manways, etc. This phrase is from an old pipe-fitters manual, and it’s what I was taught in 1993 when I entered the chemical process industry and PSM/RMP covered processes. Today, “full engagement” is defined at the bolt/nut being FLUSH. So I asked…...
I have railed against these refrigerants and all the code/standard revisions to make them easier to use. Now, OSHA has adopted the 7th edition of the GHS, and we now have Cat 1A and 1B. These flammable refrigerants fall in the 1B’s because:… Membership Required You must be a member to access this content.View Membership...
