An exercise was conducted at an industrial adhesives plant as part of its internal emergency plan. The firefighters and subprefect were in attendance. The scenario was an exothermic reaction resulting in smoke, with one victim in a production room. The[...]
Fire was detected at 10:05 pm in the stainless steel sheet stripping unit of an upper-tier Seveso metallurgical plant. The surface treatment line, composed of 7 unheated polypropylene tanks (5 containing hydrochloric acid, 1 containing hydrofluoric acid, 1 containing nitric[...]
During his shift, an employee of a special chemical products plant noticed at 1:20 pm a release of white smoke through the vents on an intermediate storage tank containing acrylic acid (AA, C3H4O2, flammable and corrosive substance, boiling point: 141°C).[...]
At 2:30 pm inside a paper mill located 5 km east of Arcachon Bay, a 5,000-m³ black liquor tank ruptured. Black liquor is a highly alkaline paper manufacturing residue composed of organic matter, soda and other chemical products; it serves[...]
Around 10:30 pm in the isocyanate unit at a chemical plant, a sensor detected a rapid conductivity rise in a heat exchanger, in which phosgene (COCl2) pressurised to tens of bar was being reheated with water vapour at 28 bar before[...]
At 6:56 pm inside a warehouse for phytosanitary products assigned an upper-tier Seveso classification, the activation of a foam-based automatic extinction system installed in a 1,000-m² cell brought fire-fighters to the scene 44 min later. By the time responders arrived,[...]
A kerosene leak (A1 jet category) was detected on a pipeline (nominal diameter DN: 108, pressure: 13.8 bar, operational since: 1942) connecting a refinery to a storage area outside the oil platform site. The quantity of lost product was estimated[...]
Connecting an oil terminal to a chemical plant 1.5 km away, a heat-insulated pipeline pressurised at 300 mm was perforated following a period of intense cold weather; 4 m³ of benzene had solidified upon shrinking below 5°C. By 2:50 pm,[...]
At a plant producing substances used in medical imaging, a temperature control defect on a biconical dryer caused product decomposition during the drying cycle. The subsequent pressure surge led, around 10 pm, to the explosion of part of the glass[...]
In an oil depot, 3,750 m³ of unleaded gasoline were transferred from one storage tank to another at the end of the afternoon by remote control from the site's control room in order to prepare for a barge loading. Around[...]
