When the wind is your friend and you can watch NH3 boil
This is video footage from an anhydrous ammonia (NH3) leak (liquid leak) and does an excellent job of showing how NH3 will behave when released as a liquid, with a boiling point of -28ºF. The videographer may not have known how close he was to “death” while shooting his/her footage, but the wind was his
EPA RMP citations @ agricultural chemical manufacturing facility (CH4S, C3H9N, C2H7N, NH3 & $71K)
From the time Respondent first had on site greater than 10,000 pounds of methyl mercaptan, isopropylamine, and/or dimethylamine in a process, and/or greater than 20,000 pounds of aqueous ammonia in a process, Respondent was subject to the requirements of 40 C.F.R. Part 68 because it was an owner and operator of a stationary source that
EPA RMP citations @ meat processing facilities (NH3 & $0 w/ EPA Work Plan)
Respondent owns and operates meat processing facilities located in Pennsylvania. As stated in Respondent’s RMP for each of the PA Facilities, Respondent has anhydrous ammonia in the following approximate quantities: 88,000 pounds at the Wyalusing Facility; 20,500 pounds at the Hazleton Facility. On June 27, 2017, EPA conducted an inspection of the Wyalusing Facility to
Breaking the plane can be fatal (OSHA Fatality)
Ever wonder why OSHA saw fit to define entry as: … as soon as any part of the entrant’s body breaks the plane of an opening into the space. Here is a 2001 fatality involving a worker reaching into a PRCS and died…
Not following 1910.134(i)(8) can result in fatalities (breathing air couplings)
Some safety professionals think the stories of workers dying in air-supplied respirators hooked into an inert gas supply are “urban safety myths”. Granted, these incidents are rare, but they do happen and they almost always result in a fatality. Here are some of the OSHA Case files from such incidents…
Improper “Hot Charging” causes NH3 cylinder to rupture
At approximately 3:15 pm on may 9, 1986, employees started to charge the number 1 line carbo-cooler, using a cylinder containing 150 pounds of anhydrous ammonia at 129 psi (room temperature). Employee #1, in an effort to speed the charging process, was adding water at 132 degrees to the ammonia cylinder (to raise the internal
Hydrogen Fire on Power Plant Generator after worker drilled hole
A hole was being drilled in the plant’s No. 8 Generator in order to remove a bore plug on a rotor undergoing maintenance. As workers were drilling the first hole, flames emanated from the drilled hole and injured a worker. A Ministry of Labour investigation found that the flames resulted from the release of hydrogen from pressurized
Ammonia release leads to flashfire and destruction of electrical inside conduit
I read a lot of OSHA case files and sometimes I find the narrative very interesting. This one, I found to be darn near impossible to have occurred as written… At approximately 2:30 p.m. Employee #1’s coworker, a refrigeration technician, was troubleshooting a compressor shutdown and opened a valve which vented anhydrous ammonia into Engine Room #3.
Dangers of process openings and bleeding off NH3 (RV Change out)
At 3:10 p.m. on February 7, 2017, an employee was making preparations to replace the relief valve of a 1,000 gallon ammonia (NH3) nurse tank. The incident investigation reported that the tank was empty of liquid NH3. However, it contained approximately 80 psi of vapor pressure. The employee set up a 30 gallon drum that
Process/Line Opening gone bad
At 7:15 a.m. on May 10, 2017, vapor phase anhydrous ammonia was released in an uncontrolled manner from a high-pressure line. The release took place when an employee drilled a 5/32-inch diameter pilot hole into a 3-inch schedule 40 seamless steel pipe containing anhydrous ammonia. The pilot hole was drilled as a starter hole for