Washington State Issues Record Fine in Tesoro Refinery Explosion

The Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) determined that the explosion that killed seven workers at the Tesoro petroleum refinery in Anacortes, Washington could have been prevented. L&I fined the company $2.39 million for 39 “willful” violations and five “serious” violations of state workplace safety and health regulations. This is the largest fine in the agency’s history.

A heat exchanger at the refinery ruptured around 12:30 a.m., April 2, 2010, releasing hydrocarbon vapor that then ignited. The incident occurred during maintenance on the Naphtha Hydrotreater (NHT) process unit. During routine operations involving an on-line switching of unit heat exchanger feed trains, a feed-effluent heat exchanger catastrophically failed, due to high temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA), releasing a hot, pressurized flammable hydrocarbon/hydrogen mixture. Seven workers, five men and two women, died as a result. It is the worst industrial disaster in the 37 years that L&I has been enforcing the state’s workplace safety law, the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act.

The heat exchangers were nearly 40 years old and were subjected to extreme heat and pressure, wide temperature and pressure swings, extensive chemical exposure and a near doubling of production over the years. These are all stresses that can damage this equipment, including causing cracking.

From Washington L&I press release.

Hoax Email - Aircraft Corrosion

There is an email going around, your Corrosion Blog editor has received it, called Aircraft Corrosion. The email is discussed on the extremely useful and entertaining "fact-checking" urban legends website snopes.com here. Public awareness of the dangers of corrosion is beneficial but spreading false tales is not. If you receive this email, I suggest that you do not forward it and reply to the sender letting them know that the email is a hoax, with the link to the snopes site (or this post).

The pictures are from a simulation of an actual crash in 2007. The failure was attributed to out-of-spec structural member that ultimately failed due to fatigue cracking. The pilot was able to eject safely and suffered a broken arm, dislocated shoulder, and cuts and bruises.

There I was just flying along, enjoying the flight...

And what's so cool is they actually pay me to do this!

Hmmm... What's that strange sound? Something feels different!

Hey, why am I looking up?

Whoa here. Controls aren't working.

Time for a mirror check. ?Hey, where's the rest of my F-15?

Uh oh, it's over there.? I think I've got a definite 'Aw, hell' going on here.

I gotta wonder, am I the first guy to ever experience 'cockpit-airframe separation anxiety?'

OK, enough is enough! I'm outta' here! But first, the canopy has to go...

OK, now it's my turn. I'm gonna be gone - soon as I find that frickin' lower handle.

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about.

This 'incident' caused the USAF to ground its fleet of F-15's.

How about the guy who took these pictures? Just when it looks like it's going to be just another 'average day at the office'.. You never know!

What caused the mid air break up? The main "longeron" (stringer) behind the cockpit failed due to corrosion.

NTSB Says Corrosion Found on Marshall, Michigan Ruptured Pipe

Close-up view of the section of pipe containing rupture

In testimony to a U.S. House of Representatives committee today, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman provided an update on the progress of the NTSB's investigation into an oil spill in Marshall, Michigan in July. Investigators found corrosion on the exterior surface of the accident pipe piece and the second pipe piece, and found surface cracks and indications of corrosion on the ruptured pipe. Government investigators estimate that between 800,000 and 1 million gallons of oil spilled as a result of the Marshall pipeline rupture.

For the full trascript of Ms. Hersman's testimony, see here.

For more information on the pipeline incident, see here.

U.S. Probes Gulf Oil Fire Involving Paint Crew

Federal authorities are investigating the cause of a blaze that broke out Thursday (Sept. 2) while a 13-member painting and cleaning crew was working aboard an oil and natural-gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico. U.S. Coast Guard helicopters planned this weekend to survey the site of Mariner Energy Inc.’s Vermilion Block 380 platform, about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast, to determine whether the platform was leaking oil.

From SSPC's PaintSquare News.

Corrosion Found on Enbridge Pipeline Prior to Leak

Federal regulators say earlier tests found corrosion along the pipeline that sent thousands of gallons of oil rushing into the Kalamazoo River this week and that, as recently as two weeks ago, its owner was talking about replacing pipe sections. No cause for the spill has been released, and it was not immediately known whether problems found in the earlier testing were in the area of the spill, or whether that part of the pipe was targeted for replacement.

Enbridge's Line 6B response website here.

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration corrective action order here (PDF, 322k).

National Transportation Safety Board announcement here.

From Detroit Free Press.

MnDOT Finds Corrosion on Gusset Plates on Mississippi River Bridge

The Minnesota Department of Transportation said it found corrosion in several gusset plates in the Mississippi River Bridge at Winona. Those are the same structural components that bridge's sudden close June 3, 2008. Officials are restricting weight limits until Tuesday's repairs.

From Associated Press

Under-designed and corroded gusset plates were determined to be a major cause of the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. More information about that failure at Wikipedia and the NTSB's report on the failure here (PDF, 4.2M).

Hoax Email - Dial Before You Dig

There is an email going around, your Corrosion Blog editor has received it three times now, called Dial Before You Dig. The email is now discussed on the extremely useful and entertaining "fact-checking" urban legends website snopes.com here. Public awareness of the dangers of third-party damage to pipelines is beneficial but spreading false tales is not. If you receive this email, I suggest that you do not forward it and reply to the sender letting them know that the email is a hoax, with the link to the snopes site (or this post).

The email contains a Microsoft PowerPoint slideshow named Dial_Before_You_Dig.pps.

Dial Before You Dig
This happened in America. It’s a good reason why you should dial before you dig…… The following pictures are a result of a worker on a farm using a post hole digger - he hit an underground, high-pressure gas main. He took out 2 homes, associated sheds and vehicles. They never found the man.

The remainder of the slideshow is pictures showing the devastation of a pipeline explosion. The pictures are from an actual pipeline explosion that happened in "America", but not as the result of a man with a post hole digger. The photographs are actually from a natural gas transmission failure near Appomattox, Virginia in September 2008 caused by external corrosion. There were some minor injuries but fortunately no one was killed.

The Case of the Failing Floor Coating

Interesting article about the failure analysis of a concrete floor coating. Who Reads Instructions Anyway? The Case of the Failing Floor Coating (PDF) from the Journal of Protective Coatings and Linings.


Spoiler alert (highlight next paragraph to see results):
It was improper mixing of the polyurethane topcoat.

Pipe Corrosion Led to Delaware Refinery Explosion

Pipe corrosion led to Del. refinery explosion
By RANDALL CHASE (AP)

NEW CASTLE, Del. — Pipe corrosion that went undetected for years led to an explosion and fire that rocked a Sunoco oil refinery in Claymont in May, authorities said Tuesday.

Investigators said the corrosion, caused by unseen condensation moisture that had collected between the bottom of a 10-inch pipe and a loose steel sleeve on which it rested, resulted in a gas leak that triggered the May 17 fire and explosion.

No one was injured, but the explosion in the ethylene complex at Sunoco's Marcus Hook Refinery lit up the night sky along the Delaware River and could be seen and felt miles away. Ethylene is a feed stock used in the production of plastics.

State Fire Marshal Grover Ingle said gas leaking from the pipe spread throughout the ethylene unit, where operating temperatures of some equipment ranged from 500 to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

"That was enough for the escaping gases to ignite," said Ingle, who declared the fire accidental.

Sunoco spokesman Thomas Golembeski said the state's finding coincides with the results of Sunoco's own internal investigation.

To continue reading this article, click here.