Two technicians working with a subcontractor died from anoxia in a refinery while carrying out maintenance work on a down reactor that was part of a hydrocracking unit. One of the technicians descended (or perhaps fell?) into a reactor filled with[...]
In a storage area of a refinery, a tank buckled at 6:35 pm, causing 37,000 m³ of crude oil to pour out like a wave. In less than 15 min, the site's 4-hectare retention basin was covered 1 m deep[...]
Around 6.15 am, a rupture disk at a chemical site opened on a grease cylinder of the medium return pressure system (MPR) on one of the lines in the polyethylene workshop that had been shut down for programmed maintenance; 1.4[...]
In a plant operating 6 metal surface treatment lines (total bath volume: 196 m³), an operator observed around 8:15 pm that 1,000 liters of cyanide alkaline copper had spilled into a concrete retention basin after an output pipe detachment on[...]
A rupture disk in a plastics factory opened on the medium pressure return (MPR) line of a compressor due to a pressure increase on discharge side of the primary compressor, resulting in the release of 3.2 t ethylene into the[...]
At a pyrotechnics plant, 5.6 kg of an HMX/Viton mix detonated around 9:25 am during compression, causing the deflagration of 14 kg of powder explosive held in a barrel. Detonation occurred upon reaching maximum compressive force in a high-capacity isostatic[...]
A pipeline used to transport gaseous chlorine (Cl2) exploded between a chemical platform (run by the producer) and an elastomer manufacturing site (user). The pipeline, built in 1961 for the transport of hydrochloric acid (HCl), had been operated since 1986[...]
An ammonia container or pressurised drum (NH3) was leaking within a frozen foods warehouse located in an industrial estate. The accident occurred at the time a refrigerating unit condenser was being replaced after being partially emptied of its NH3 contents[...]
At 1.20 pm, a violent explosion rocked a gasoline isomerisation unit in a refinery. Having been shut down for maintenance one month earlier, the separator was being restarted at 2 am. The operators began filling the raffinate splitter with highly[...]
Approximately 2 kg of propane were released into the atmosphere at an LPG filling centre (Seveso installation) and designed to supply customers throughout the region.A tank car was moved while it was being loaded, causing a gas leak. Positioned at[...]
