Yep, its JUST Anhydrous Ammonia “in Refrigeration” (Part II)

UPDATED with the actual working EXCEL Spreadsheet so that members can sort the data as needed;as well I updated the #’s related to refrigeration below. I had messed up my first sort and was off by a couple.

This week I raised a red flag regarding ammonia accidents after the UNLOADING FATALITY at a fertilizer facility, only to be told that it was the wrong “forum” (e.g. ammonia refrigeration) to mention the hazards of ammonia at a fertilizer plant, after all, we are “ammonia refrigeration” and not fertilizer plants. It seems there still remains those who truly believe that Anhydrous Ammonia somehow behaves and has a different level of hazard depending on how and where it is used. Granted, the level of risk in a process that has ROUTINE TEMPORARY connections such as a fertilizer distributor is one that is MUCH HIGHER than a closed loop refrigeration process; however, this in NO WAY implies there is little risk in such a closed loop process. Anyone who hooks up a truck to their process can LEARN from the fertilizer accident and in truth, MOST ammonia delivered to refrigeration processes occurs in the spring and summer months as well! So I have worked with an organization in analyzing many of the Ammonia Accidents that those of you who use the Incident Alerts have seen over the years. Here is that accident data regarding the use of Anhydrous Ammonia in the refrigeration industry. This data is worldwide and takes us from 2006 up to the last quarter of 2013. This data is SPECIFIC to NH3 used in “REFRIGERATION”. In summary for the period of 2006- 3rd quarter 2013, there have been 93 fatalities from ammonia accidents in refrigeration, 877 injuries, 286 which were “severe” enough to require hospitalization, and 16,482 personnel evacuated. These numbers correspond to minimum average GLOBAL frequencies of 120 injured, 30 severely harmed and 12 fatalities each year related to ANHYDROUS AMMONIA used in REFRIGERATION. By comparison, a US survey (SAFTENG Members Access) on ammonia accidents showed an average frequency of 7 accidents and 2 fatalities/year between 1995 and 2006. This article and data are for SAFTENG members and those who wish to use the data. This is NOT a scientific study and ONLY media accounts were used in this analysis. This means that ONLY those releases of Ammonia from a REFRIGERATION process that made the news were captured. I will allow any deductions one comes to, to their own conclusions; however, the data is what it is. Use at your discretion.

CLICK HERE to download the XCEL Spreadsheet so that you can sort the data for your needs.

Date	Location	Accident	Substance	Injured	Severely harmed	Fatalities	Evacuated	Sector	System
7/3/06	Harbour Grace (NL – CAN)	Leak	Ammonia	17	3			Fishing Vessel	Refrigeration System
9/15/06	Chemnitz (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	3				Cool Store	Damaged Tank
10/10/06	Be’er Tuvia (ISR)	Leak	Ammonia	20	1			Ice Cream factory	Refrigeration System broken pipe
10/31/06	South Hutchinson (KS- US)	Leak	Ammonia		1	1		Food Processing	Refrigeration System
3/23/07	Little Saxham (Suffolk UK)	Leak	Ammonia		1			Food Processing	Refrigeration System
3/31/07	Royton (Oldham – UK)	Leak	Ammonia	26				Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
11/4/07	Nohra (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	13			184	Meat Processing	Refrigeration System
2/9/07	Waterloo (IA – US)	Leak	Ammonia		1	1		Meat processing	Refrigeration System
10/29/07	London (UK)	Leak	Ammonia	29				Ice Rink	Refrigeration System
9/12/07	Adelberg (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	10	5			Ice Rink	Refrigeration System
1/16/08	Icheon (South Korea)	Explosion	Ammonia		10	30		Warehouse	Refrigerants Filling
1/22/08	Schwarzenbach di Oro (IT)	Explosion	Ammonia	10	1	1		Ice Rink	Refrigeration System
1/22/08	Auer (AU)	Explosion	Ammonia	8	1	1		Ice Rink	Ammonia bottle
2/25/08	Zurich (CH)	Leak	Ammonia	3	1		250		Refrigeration Maintenance
2/28/08	Lohne (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	12	4		40	Poultry Plant	Refrigeration System
4/29/08	Tamahere (NZ)	Explosion	Hydrocarbon		7	1		Cool Store	Explosion
6/23/08	Kulmbach (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	24			2500	Swimming Pool	Refrigeration System
7/1/08	Paderborn (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	16	2			Slaughter House	Refrigeration System
9/8/08	Wendouree (AUS)	Leak	Ammonia	30				Food Processing	System Demolition Works
8/23/08	Kulmbach (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	25			2500	Swimming Pool	Refrigeration System
2/9/08	Bad Fallingborstel (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	6					Refrigeration System
9/24/08	Auggen (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	8			76		Refrigeration System
11/20/08	Manta (Ecuador)	Leak	Ammonia	30		5		Fishing Vessel	System Refrigeration System broken
10/2/08	Tuttlingen (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	35			500	School	Refrigeration System
2/24/09	Torcé (F)	Leak	Ammonia	2			15	Food Processing	Refrigeration System
5/14/09	Louisville (KY – US)	Leak	Ammonia			2		Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
9/6/09	Garner (NC-US)	Leak	Ammonia	18	20	4		Food Processing	Provoked by a nearby gas explosion
6/20/09	Lumber Bridge (NC – US)	Leak	Ammonia		4	1		Poultry Plant	Refrigeration System
6/23/09	Eglisau (ZH – CH)	Leak	Ammonia	2					Ammonia transfer
7/14/09	Orlishausen (D)	Leak	Ammonia	34					Ammonia transfer
7/15/09	Swansea (SC – US)	Leak	Ammonia	7		1		Chemical Plant	Ammonia transfer
7/28/09	Reutlingen (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	8			200	Ice Rink	Safety Valve Lifted
8/28/09	South San Francisco (CA – USA)	Leak	Ammonia	24	8		3000	Meat Processing	Refrigeration System
9/23/09	Franconia (PA – USA)	Leak	Ammonia	7			1100	Meat Processing	Refrigeration System
11/17/09	Rosemount (MN-US)	Leak	Ammonia	2	1	1		Chemical Plant	Filling Station
3/26/10	West Liberty (IS – US)	Leak	Ammonia	16			300	Food Processing	Refrigeration System
5/5/10	South Auckland (NZ)	Explosion	Hydrocarbon		1			Cool Store	Refrigeration Maintenance
6/25/10	Tamworth	Leak	Ammonia	23	5			Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
8/23/10	Theodore (AL – US)	Leak	Ammonia		4		150	Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
8/25/10	Rockmart (GA – US)	Leak	Ammonia	22	3			Poultry Plant	Valve
8/9/10	Gossau (CH)	Leak	Ammonia	2	1		100	Food Store	Refrigeration System
9/24/10	PAW PAW (MI – US)	Leak	Ammonia	11				Winery	Refrigeration System
10/23/10	Zurich (CH)	Leak	CO2	20	1		90	Food Store	Refrigeration System
8/12/10	Randolph	Leak	Ammonia	55			400		Transfer to Tank
12/14/10	Walkden	Explosion	CO2	8				Shopping Center	Burst Pipe
12/28/10	Bubendorf (CH)	Leak	Ammonia	2					Refrigeration System
1/1/11	Accrington – UK	Explosion	CO2				200	Cold Storage	Burst Pipe
1/24/11	Nagerbazar – IN	Leak	Ammonia		70		3000	Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
1/30/11	Brest (F)	Leak	Ammonia			1		Tanker	Refrigeration System
2/17/11	Langenthal (CH)	Leak	Ammonia	2					Refrigeration System
12/5/11	Taiwanese fishing vessel	Explosion	Ammonia		27	10		Fishing Vessel	Broken Pipe
4/6/11	Rheda-Wiedenbrück (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	9	4		370	Meat Processing	Refrigeration System
6/29/11	Sürenheide (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	1			200	Meat Processing	Refrigeration System
9/15/11	Scotiabank Place (ONT – CAN)	Leak	Ammonia	1	1		500	Building’s Refrigeration Room	Refrigeration System
9/27/11	St Pieters Leeuw (B)	Leak	Ammonia	2	3			Brewery	Pipe Dismantling
4/10/11	Pardies (FR)	Leak	Ammonia	1	1			Chemical Plant	Pumping Station
12/11/11	Kerala – IN)	Explosion	Ammonia		1	3		Ice Plant & Cold Storage	Ammonia Tank
11/17/11	Angers (FR)	Leak	Ammonia	2			40	Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
11/28/11	North Shore (BC-CN)	Leak	Ammonia		1			Ice Making Room	Refrigeration System
12/16/11	Elena (BG)	Leak	Ammonia	12	3		100	Dairy Plant	Broken Pipe
1/18/12	St Gilgen (AU	Leak	Ammonia		1			Power Plant	SCR
2/13/12	Nortrup (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	11				Meat Processing	Refrigeration System
2/20/12	Bad Kissingen (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	10				Ice Rink	Refrigeration System
2/22/12	Vienna (AU)	Leak	Ammonia	72				Refrigeration Company	Refrigeration System Valve
2/24/12	Vienna (AU)	Leak	Ammonia		62			Cool Store	Refrigeration System
6/12/12	Elsdorf (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	8			30	Dairy Plant	Refrigeration System
6/24/12	Quezon City (PH)	Leak	Ammonia		5		200	Ice Plant	Refrigeration System
8/7/12	Dutch Harbor (AL – US)	Leak	Ammonia	3				Fishing Vessel	Refrigeration System
7/13/12	Bocklemünd (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	2					Refrigeration System
7/13/12	Unalaska (US)	Leak	Ammonia	2			120	Fishing Vessel	Refrigeration System
7/18/12	Mouscron (BE)	Leak	Ammonia	11				Bakery	Refrigeration System
8/22/12	Sevrey (F)	Leak	Ammonia	2			57	Food Processing	Refrigeration System
8/24/12	Pilgrim (TX -US)	Leak	Ammonia	17				Poultry Plant	Refrigeration System
8/27/12	Gütersloh (DE)	Leak	Ammonia		4			Meat Processing	Refrigeration System
9/21/12	Rheda-Wiedenbrück (DE)	Leak	CO2	12				Meat Processing	Refrigeration System
9/22/12	Interlaken (CH)	Leak	Ammonia	4				Swimming Pool	Refrigeration System
9/28/12	Stuttgart (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	2				Ice Rink	Refrigeration System
10/10/12	Herdecke (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	2				Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
5/12/12	Jänickendorf (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	1			50	Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
6/12/12	Nuthe-Urstromtal (DE)	Leak	Ammonia		1		150		Refrigeration System
6/12/12	Holzminden (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	21				Industrial	Refrigeration System
12/14/12	Bad Bramstedt (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	9				Fish Processing	Refrigeration System
9/1/13	Schiefbahn (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	2				Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
2/13/13	Harekala (IN)	Leak	Ammonia		2	1		Fish Processing	Refrigeration System
3/19/13	Pekin (Illinois)	Explosion	Hydrocarbon	1	3			Refrigerant Bottling Plant
7/4/13	Bayyavaram – (IN)	Explosion	Ammonia			3		Dairy Plant	Refrigeration System
4/26/13	Durban (SA)	Leak	Ammonia	13	1			Harbor Terminal	Refrigeration System
4/29/13	Greenhithe (Kent-UK)	Leak	Ammonia	3	4			Shopping Center	Refrigeration System
7/5/13	Bottrop (DE)	Leak	Ammonia	10				Nursing Home	Leaking Refrigerator
5/22/13	Port Coquitlam (CN)	Leak	Ammonia	12				Food Processing	Refrigeration System
5/25/13	Emporia (US)	Leak	Ammonia	7				Food Processing	Refrigeration System
11/6/13	Newbury (UK)	Leak	CO2					Shopping Center	Refrigeration System
6/13/13	Cactus (TX -US)	Leak	Ammonia	11				Meat Processing	Refrigeration System
12/7/13	Winnipeg (CAN)	Leak	Ammonia	3				Ice Rink	Refrigeration System
6/8/13	Horlivka (UKR)	Explosion	Ammonia	20	8	5		Industrial	Refrigeration System
12/8/13	Vallée-Jonction (CAN)	Leak	Ammonia	9			350	Slaughter House	Refrigeration System
8/30/13	Shanghai (CHINA)	Leak	Ammonia	20	6	15		Frozen Seafood Plant	Refrigeration System
7/9/13	Vijapur (North Gujarat, India)	Leak	Ammonia		4	7		Cold Storage	Refrigeration System
7/10/13	Washington (DC – US)	Leak	Fluorocarbon	1		1		Hospital	Air Conditioning
TOTALS				919	298	87	16,772

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