In Process Safety – Torquing Matters! (NH3 Leak on manway gasket)
Incident overview Manhole gasket seal on an oil separator pressure vessel failed to hold ammonia in the vessel which resulted in the exhaust ventilation system to be activated.
Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) leads to NH3 release
Incident overview There were no injuries or property damage due to the Ammonia release from the pinhole in the 1” piping to the Hydro Cooler Surge Drum. The Ammonia vapor set the leak detector on at 50 ppm which activated the alarms. The Ammonia Vapor was drawn in from the outside of the building where
Bonnet gasket leaking from chiller isolation valve to oil pot (10 pound release)
Incident overview The bonnet gasket on the isolation valve between the brine chiller and the oil pot leaked approximately 10 lbs ammonia into the mechanical room. Two (2) refrigeration technicians had completed draining oil from the oil pot and when the isolation valve was closed the bonnet gasket leaked ammonia into the brine chiller insulation.
Guidelines for Ammonia Refrigeration Plant Equipment Integrity Programs (TSBC Draft #2)
Following the release of the Fernie Incident Investigation Report Technical Safety BC developed new ammonia refrigeration industry maintenance guidelines to support facility owners and refrigeration professionals with implementing the report recommendations. The purpose of these guidelines is to provide ammonia refrigeration plant owners and operators with guidance and basic information about the development, documentation, and
Anhydrous Ammonia Tank Failure – South Africa 1973, Detailed report on a major disaster in a fertilizer plant
On July 13, 1973, at a fertilizer plant, one of four 50-ton (metric) pressure-storage tanks (horizontal bullet type) failed. The failure resulted from brittle fracture of a dished end. No specific source of cracking, or a “triggering incident” was identified. An estimated 30 ton of anhydrous ammonia was released, plus another 8 ton from a
A 3rd Catastrophic Failure of a NH3 Refrigeration pressure vessel
I am trying to get the details behind this one. I do know it was a vertical vessel inside an engine room. it failed, catastrophically, and did considerable damage inside the engine room as well as off-site. No off-site injuries or damage (other than the grass in the median of the road where it came
Line Break gone BAD (Phosgene)
At 2:30 p.m. on September 13, 2010, Employee #1, Employee #2, and Employee #3 were tasked with the dismantling of a scaffold level within a phosgene containment dome. During their dismantling work, at approximately 80 feet above the ground, alarms specific to phosgene gas were triggered. The process within this Dome was the manufacturing and
What RMP information will be available to the public under the new RMP Reconsideration Final Rule
Under the final RMP Reconsideration rule, members of the public can continue to obtain access to RMPs through three different means: Read-only access to the full version of facility RMPs at reading rooms by appearing in person at a Federal reading room; Read-only RMP access directly from the local emergency planning committee in the location
RMP Reconsideration Final Rule is FINAL as of November 20, 2019
On November 20, 2019, EPA finalized changes to the Risk Management Program (RMP) Reconsideration final rule to better address potential security risks, regulatory consistency and reasonable consideration of costs. The changes are intended to promote better emergency planning and public information about accidents and maintain the trend of fewer significant accidents involving chemicals regulated under
Another CATASTROPHIC FAILURE of a Ammonia Refrigeration vessel (150-gallon Vessel @ chicken slaughterhouse)
We have had another catastrophic failure of a pressure vessel used in an ammonia refrigeration process and this time we caught it on camera. The event occurred last week and unfortunately, I have not heard of any causes or if anything special was happening within the process when this failure occurred. This picture shows us
A PSSR is NOT an Initial Start-Up Procedure
I am not sure where or quite when this vicious rumor began, but let’s make this clear: A Pre-startup Safety Review (PSSR) is an ENTIRELY separate exercise AND MUST be completed BEFORE the Initial Start-Up procedures are implemented. Granted it may be the same personnel doing both tasks, but the PSSR is FULLY COMPLETED BEFORE
When a Nitrogen (N2) Purge makes an A_s out of U and Me (Assume)
Earlier this year I was asked to participate in an incident review involving a flashfire/explosion in a tote-filling process. (NOTE: the official term is an Intermediate Bulk Container or IBC) As I have written about many times, the #1 cause of these flash fires/explosions inside a container/vessel is the generation of static electricity; but this