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Operations in a degraded mode

This fact sheet is the analysis of some accidents that illustrate the risks associated with the operation of installations in degraded mode (unavailability of equipment, utility, personnel ...). These degraded operating situations can arise from material failures, but also from[...]
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Bringing gas-powered installations back online

Repair, maintenance shutdown, adjustment of phase, often require the shutdown and restart of gas-powered installations. This procedure is frequently time consuming to implement, depending on the type of equipment considered (superheater, steam generator), and it can generate accidents. The following[...]
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Risks analysis and works projects

The accidentology during phases of work, be it maintenance, modification, installation or even dismantling of installations have been regularly mentioned and studied. This is due to the seriousness of this type of events, particularly in terms of human consequences. Focus[...]
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Silos Storing Plant Products

Silos storing plant products

We need to pay special attention to the circumstances under which accidents in silos storing plant products take place. Experience shows that the frequency of accidents is far higher during the working phase including the preventive or curative maintenance, change,[...]
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Triggering Of The Foam Extinction System Inside A Chemicals Firm

Triggering of the foam extinction system inside a chemicals firm

  • FRANCE
At 6:56 pm inside a warehouse for phytosanitary products assigned an upper-tier Seveso classification, the activation of a foam-based automatic extinction system installed in a 1,000-m² cell brought fire-fighters to the scene 44 min later. By the time responders arrived,[...]
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Fire At A 15.000 T Storage Facility For Used Tyres

Fire at a 15.000 t storage facility for used tyres

  • GRECE
A large fire broke out at an open used-tire storage in an industrial area, near a recycling plant that had started its operation only two months earlier. The fire expanded fast and covered the whole pile of the tires, estimated[...]
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Fire Of Solar Panels On The Roof Of A Warehouse

Fire of solar panels on the roof of a warehouse

  • FRANCE
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[...]
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Tank Explosion In A Chemical Plant

Tank explosion in a chemical plant

  • FRANCE
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[...]
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Explosion And Fire At A Chemical Plant

Explosion and fire at a chemical plant

  • PAYS-BAS
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[...]
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Gas explosion on public roads

  • FRANCE
A natural gas leak was reported in the city center around 11:30 am on a water network. Emergency services set up a security perimeter and conduct reconnaissance , when an explosion 45 minutes later damaged several buildings. Fire reached the[...]
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