A 34,000-tonne inventory of bone meal under a hangar awaiting destruction began to heat. A passerby noticed a glow and notified the site watchman. A response covering a few m² with a powder extinguisher halted the phenomenon. The characteristics of[...]
On the 2nd basement level of a factory in an urban area mixing and packaging aerosols, a stock of boxed supplies stored on pallets ignited. The presence of smoke and heat complicated the emergency response. An ensuing explosion slightly injured[...]
A tank undergoing cleaning exploded after a 15-day production run. Along with a damaged drum dryer, the tank had been collecting washing water with an excess concentration of 2'-azobis (2 methylbutyronitrile) - AIVN (a by-product of hydrazine hydrate). In anticipating[...]
During a regular facility inspection inside a silo, the Head of Operations saw smoke rising from 2 intercellular storage spaces (so-called "ace of spades"); he immediately shut down the installations. Fire-fighters controlled this combustion event, resulting from an accumulation of[...]
At a chemical plant manufacturing phytosanitary products, an explosion occurred on a multi-purpose unit; this blast was followed by the formation of a black, foul-smelling cloud hovering over the city, causing an electricity outage that disturbed rail traffic for several[...]
At a demineralisation unit, 1 m³ of 35% hydrochloric acid spilled into a retention basin and onto the concrete slab of nearby tanks. The gas desorbed in forming fog. The transfer pump shut down 1 min later, the siren was[...]
An older lead-lined steel tank (diameter: 8 m, height: 9 m, bottom thickness: 8 mm, shell thickness: 5-7 mm) containing 450 m³ of phosphoric acid burst at a chemical facility. The acid wave destroyed the reinforced concrete retention basin (with[...]
At an industrial gas packaging site, fire broke out in a room housing 16 bottles of silane. The internal emergency plan was activated and the site evacuated. The blaze could not be immediately controlled and wound up destroying the room[...]
A chlorine leak occurred when degassing a sprayer during production downtime at the end of a campaign on a chemical site. The Cl2 tank in use was isolated by 2 remote-controlled valves placed in series ((20) liquid Cl2 tank outlet[...]
In a fine chemical plant, a toluene leak in a solvent reception tank (300 litres)connecting a dryer (3 000 litres) caught fire while the facility was being cleaned with toluene. The solvent (whose temperature was close to room temperature) present[...]
