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[...]
On a Saturday shortly before 3 pm, a fire broke out in the C2 workshop (used for manufacturing fireworks) at a fireworks depot. Local fire-fighters were notified. Rockets spread the fire to containers located just opposite the blaze. At 3:08[...]
Fire broke out at a site specialised in collecting, sorting and storing industrial wastes before their transport and ultimate treatment. At the time of the accident, this large-scale platform was warehousing 480 tonnes of miscellaneous chemical waste. Fire-fighters, unable to[...]
In the cyanhydric acid (HCN) synthesis workshop at a chemical plant manufacturing adiponitrile, a purification column was being cleaned by introducing air to bleed the cyanhydric acid contained inside, with the residual gaseous mix then being burned in a boiler.[...]
Inside a foundry, an explosion in a refining furnace containing 6.7 tonnes of ingot alloys (Fe, Mo, Ni, Co, Al, Ti), 0.5 tonnes of cast iron scrap, 0.8 tonnes of sand and 240 kg of lime projected molten metal and[...]
In a unit handling nitric acid concentrations at a plant manufacturing phytosanitary products and medicines, an explosion occurred on the lower part of the distillation column and on the associated heating tank. Fire broke out in the adjoining zone, generating[...]
In a gold ore retreatment facility opened in May 1999, a settling basin for tailings storage collapsed after a 25-m long crack formed. A total of 287,500 m³ of effluent laced with cyanide (400 mg/l, 115 tonnes total) and heavy[...]
In the basement of a 16,000-m² building of a tyre manufacturing plant, 3,000 m² of synthetic rubber (839 tonnes of butadiene/styrene, including 649 tonnes spread with petroleum oil and 1,170 tonnes of polybutadiene) combusted. At 4:40 pm, the alarm was[...]
At a chemical plant around 8:40 pm, 71 kg of sulphur dichloride (SCl2) were unloaded during a substance transfer operation. The SCl2 was transferred from the steel, nitrogen-inerted container into a tank. This container was connected by a hose to[...]
In a refinery, the water contained in storage tanks (gasoline and diesel) was being periodically channelled into a sump and then pumped to a drip basin prior to treatment. During a manual drainage step, 20 m³ of liquid and vaporised[...]
