Blog - Page 28 of 54 - La référence du retour d'expérience sur accidents technologiques

Fire of solar panels on the roof of a warehouse

14/01/2010
Accident

Fire broke out around 3:30 pm on the roof of a 15,000-m² warehouse covered by 1,000 m² of solar panels (totalling some 660 panels). The building, inaugurated in November 2009, had received an HQE (highest environmental quality rating) certification; it[...]

Explosion in an plant manufacturing polymers

23/11/2009
Accident

In an upper-tier Seveso-rated plant manufacturing polymers used for water treatment applications, and despite the differentiated storage and packaging zones, a technician assigned the morning shift poured by mistake 1 to 2 kg of sodium hypophosphite classified non-hazardous into a[...]

Leakage of a pipeline in a nature reserve

07/08/2009
Accident

A leak was discovered on a crude oil pipeline (diam.: 40'', maximum service pressure: 40 bar, built in 1972) composed of welded rolled tubes. The accident occurred on a Natura 2000 site in the Crau Natural Reserve, home to several[...]

Tank explosion in a chemical plant

04/08/2009
Accident

An empty 100-m³ reservoir of sulphuric acid (H2SO4) exploded at 9:15 am at a chemical site. Installed directly above its retention basin at a height of several metres, this "F2" reservoir was projected and fell nearby, toppling the scaffolding set[...]

Explosion in a chlorine-alkali plant

23/07/2009
Accident

A lightning strike caused a voltage drop on the power supply of a chlorine-alkali plant using the mercury process. The emergency electrical system was activated, though restoring the external supply voltage in less than 200 ms rendered the entire system[...]

Explosion of superheater on vapour cracking at a petrochemical platform

15/07/2009
Accident

Superheater "A" on vapour cracking unit no. 1 at a petrochemical platform exploded around 3 pm. Of the 8 personnel present at the time, 2 were killed and the other 6 injured. Projectiles, composed mainly of refractory material, were sent[...]

Explosion and fire at a chemical plant

11/07/2009
Accident

In a chemical plant producing mainly cellulose derivatives, an explosion and fire occurred at about 4 pm during the restart of a production line stopped for 9 h after a breakdown. The commissioning of the vacuum belt filter by the[...]

Explosion of LPG wagons

29/06/2009
Accident

Shortly after crossing a train station at a speed of 90 km/hr around 11:45 pm, the conductor of a convoy of 14 railcars containing 110 m³ (45 tonnes) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) felt a jolt and noticed the derailment[...]

Chlorine leak in an industrial gas plant

27/05/2009
Accident

Liquid chlorine (Cl2) leaked out inside an industrial gas plant during air pressure drainage of a railcar. The previous day at 2 pm, 2 experienced technicians connected a Cl2 railcar in accordance with the procedure entitled "Railcar acceptance/hook-up", consisting of:[...]

Flooding of a pharmaceutical plant

01/11/2008
Accident

A pharmaceutical plant on a 55 hectare platform out of which 15 hectares were used was flooded (ARIA 35427) with 20 cm to 1 m of water due to torrential rains (300 mm in a few days including over 100[...]