An explosion occurred in a chemical site causing the cover of a 99.2% sulphuric acid tank (filled to 300 t of its total 1500 tonne capacity) to open partially. The cover opened along the circumference of the tank at the[...]
During the production of biogas by means of an organic waste reclamation process, a release of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) killed 3 employees and a truck driver who had come to unload slaughterhouse waste. The high concentration of H2S in the[...]
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[...]
In a refinery, 10 to 20 t of gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons were released in 5 minutes starting at 4.46 pm by 3 of the 5 valves of the atmospheric distillation unit during restart operations.At 6 pm, the firemen notified[...]
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[...]
A fire was reported at 3.05 am, during the night from Sunday to Monday, in one of 4 buildings (A/B/C/D) adjacent to a site producing agro-pharmaceutical products (powders, granulates) and storing finished solid and liquid products. The installations were shut[...]
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[...]
