Explosion during a maintenance operation in a refinery
At 12:27 am, an employee attempted to replace a manometer placed on a tap downstream of a pump that was moving propylene from a storage capacity to the depropanizer (i.e. a tower that separates propane from the remainder of product[...]
Successive accidents on a chemical platform
The summary of this accident has not yet been translated. In the meantime, please refer to the French summary : Une fuite de pantènes nitriles (PN) a lieu dans un atelier d'adiponitrile dans lequel le 3ème réacteur a été by-passé[...]
Fatal discomfort following a leak of nitric acid NOx
Nitrous vapours (NOx) were released during the emergency shutdown of an adipic acid production unit protected by a programmable controller and comprised of 4 reactors in a low-pressure state. The NOx by-product suctioned by a compressor was transformed into nitric[...]
Warehouse fire
Within a warehouse composed of 8 storage units rented by 4 different operators, fire broke out in bales of cellulose wadding stored in one of the units, while another occupied by the same operator was used as a workshop for[...]
Fire in a sugar refinery
In a distillery, a 5,000-m³ tank containing 1,000 m³ of ethanol at 96% concentration exploded when lightning struck and then ignited. The raised roof fell into the reservoir, which remained intact. However, the tank foot valve cracked upon impact. An[...]
Packing of a Styrene / AcryloNitrile copolymerisation reactor
At 10.40 pm, during a styrene/acrylonitrile copolymerisation reaction in a plastics manufacturing plant, the operator in the control room detected an abnormal temperature increase to 125 °C on one of the 75-m³ reactors. The visual display screen in the control[...]
Water pollution
A leak occurred on the lower drainage pipe of a 16-m³ tank containing 10.3 m³ of sulphuric acid. The tank operating under 2 bar of pressure was feeding a tanning workshop. Further downstream, plant effluent was neutralised using lime milk[...]
Fire on a recycling plastic plant
At a site dedicated to recycling polyethylene terephthalate for the production of polyol/polyester foam, fire broke out in the PET bottle feed chute connecting the first reactor (containing glycols and a catalyst) while conducting process management validation tests under actual[...]
Leak of butadiene
340 kg of butadiene leaked from a 55 m³ reactor in a plant manufacturing ABS resins. Following pre-polymerisation tests (safety systems, reactor pressure test), 25 tonnes of water, emulsifying agent, an initiator and 15 tonnes of liquid butadiene under a[...]