Showing posts with label Refinery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Refinery. Show all posts
Monday, October 18, 2010
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.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
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.
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.
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