At 11:30 a.m. on September 04, 2018, a group of employees was working on a beef processing station. Employee #1 was REPLACING A DEFECTIVE AMMONIA PRESSURE GAUGE FOR A HOT-GAS AMMONIA LINE when he broke off the gauge and associated valve, releasing ammonia into the area and cut/fab floor below. The plant was evacuated and […]
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has approved a consent decree between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Environmental Justice Health Alliance for Chemical Policy Reform, Clean Water Action, and Natural Resources Defense Council. The consent decree requires EPA to issue long-overdue rules requiring robust hazardous substance spill-prevention and
Many years ago I had an open debate with a “grandfather of refrigeration” on his turf in front of about 30 other refrigeration professionals and the debate was about “flange connections”, ASME B16, and TORQUE and how it all applied to covered processes regardless of what the HHC/EHS was, including anhydrous ammonia in a refrigeration
My January article “What does a “suitable telltale indicator” look like when we have a dual relief system” was a hit as I received numerous requests for information on how to get these special gauges. As I promised each of you in the ammonia refrigeration industry, here is what I have used on my NH3
On December 30, 2019, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) Inspectors working offshore discovered that a level safety high had been improperly deactivated with a zip tie, resulting in the issuance of a P-103 incident of noncompliance (INC). There have been multiple instances across the Gulf of Mexico in which operators have failed
Although this Coast Gaurd Bulletin is specific to maritime vessels, it can and should be applied to relief valves on land as well. There are some really good practices in this bulletin, such as when to perform the test in-situ vs. bench testing. The incident happened when a relief valve on the associated compressor was
A lot of older plants in the USA use their water piping as their main ground for a lot of purposes. In one such plant, the grounding connections for the flammable liquid transfers were tied into the water piping. One day a water pipe failed and caused quite a bit of damage; the price to
A number of years ago a former client decided that process safety was not worth the effort and wanted to get their process below the 10,000 pounds TQ for their LPG. They hired a local architect/engineering firm that had no experience with the storage, handling, and processing of LPGs. This “architect/engineering firm” advised the facility
Since I began consulting I learned of something I thought I would never see… an ASME pressure vessel without a pressure relief device (PRD). Typically when I have come across one of these vessels I have gotten the “grandfather” or “its too small” justification. So let’s discuss these two items and see if they are
The department is initiating rulemaking to implement the advanced safety training requirements for High Hazard Facilities. Chapter 49.80 RCW, enacted in 2019, requires owners of petroleum refining or petrochemical manufacturing facilities to use a skilled and trained workforce when contracting for construction, alteration, demolition, installation, repair, or maintenance work. By January 1, 2022, all workers
Shortly after 6 pm, on June 2, 2011, an atmospheric storage tank within the amine regeneration unit exploded. A fireball split the tank open and killed four (4) workers. The sole survivor sustained severe burns and suffered life-changing injuries. The force of the explosion ejected the five-ton steel tank roof over 180 feet through
Last week EPA updated its National Compliance Initiative: Reducing Accidental Releases at Industrial and Chemical Facilities data and included an updated photo… Is this another “shot across the bow” to the ammonia refrigeration industry? They also updated their data with their 2019 Inspections:
