Safety and Loss Prevention

Oil and Gas (Downstream)

The incident summaries provide a brief description of the event and highlight key points (including basic causes, critical factors, root causes and lessons learned) in addition to signposting interested readers to the detailed investigation report and selected other pertinent reference materials.

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Feyzin - 04 January 1966

Incident: Propane Storage Sphere Rupture. Location: France. Keywords: BLEVE; deluge; Feyzin; fire; hydrate; ice; Joule-Thomson; procedure; rupture; sphere; training; valve. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Romeoville - 23 July 1984

Incident: Amine absorber catastrophic failure. Location: USA. Keywords: crack; embrittlement; explosion; FCC; HAZ; LPG; MEA; PWHT; Romeoville; rupture; SOHIC; SSC; weld. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Grangemouth - 22 March 1987

Incident: Vessel overpressure and catastrophic failure. Location: UK. Keywords: alarm; breakthrough; design; explosion; Grangemouth; HCU; hydrocracker; MoC; procedure; PSV; separator; training. Author: Peter Marsh.

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La Mède - 09 November 1992

Incident: Bypass Piping Rupture. Location: France. Keywords: building; bypass; control; corrosion; dead-leg; escalation; explosion; FCC; fire; inspection; La Mède; layout; pipe; roof; spacing; USGP; VCE. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Milford Haven - 24 July 1994

Incident: Flare line rupture. Location: United Kingdom. Keywords: alarm, corrosion, DCS, explosion, FCC, flare, maintenance, Milford, MoC, risk, rupture, troubleshooting. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Avon - 21 January 1997

Incident: Hydrocracker reactor temperature runaway. Location: USA. Keywords: abnormal; Avon; depressuring; emergency; exothermic; explosion; field; hydrocracking; management; pipe; procedure; PSM; reactor; runaway. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Avon - 23 February 1999

Incident: Naphtha Spill During Maintenance. Location: USA. Keywords: audit; Avon; corrosion; escape; fire; maintenance; MoC; naphtha; permit; procedure; risk; supervision; training; valve. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Izmit - 17 August 1999

Incident: Furnace Stack Collapse During Earthquake. Location: Turkey. Keywords: communication; earthquake; fire; foam; Izmit; Kocaeli; plan; pollution; power; response; rupture; sloshing; sprinkler; stack; water. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Humber - 16 April 2001

Incident: Deethaniser overhead line rupture. Location: UK. Keywords: communication, corrosion, deethaniser, design, erosion, geometry, Humber, injection, MoC, USGP, washwater. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Ciniza - 08 April 2004

Incident: Hot alkylate release during pump maintenance. Location: USA. Keywords: breakdown; Ciniza; corrosion; explosion; fire; LOPC; LOTO; maintenance; MoC; preventative; pump; seal; valve. Author: Peter Marsh

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Texas City - 23 March 2005

Incident: Raffinate splitter liquid overfill. Location: USA. Keywords: blowdown, explosion, fatality, ISOM, MoC, NSU, overfill, procedure, PSV, splitter, Texas, trailer, vent. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Texas City - 28 July 2005

Incident: Hydrogen preheat exchanger outlet elbow rupture. Location: USA. Keywords: communication; design; elbow; exchanger; fire; fitting; HTHA; hydrogen; inherent; jet; PMI; procedure; QC; rupture; Texas. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Delaware City - 05 November 2005

Incident: Hydrocracker Reactor Nitrogen Asphyxiation. Location: USA. Keywords: asphyxiation; confined; Delaware; hydrocracker; nitrogen; oxygen; permit; procedure; purge; rescue. Author: Peter Marsh.

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McKee - 16 February 2007

Incident: Propane piping rupture. Location: USA. Keywords: chlorine, dead-leg, design, EBV, fire, fireproofing, freeze, McKee, MoC, rupture. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Anacortes - 02 April 2010

Incident: Catastrophic heat exchanger shell rupture. Location: USA. Keywords: Anacortes; clad; exchanger; explosion; fouling; HTHA; instrumentation; lining; Nelson; PWHT; rupture; shell. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Chiba - 11 March 2011

Incident: LPG Storage Tanks Rupture After Earthquake. Location: Japan. Keywords: Chiba; creeping; domino; earthquake; EBV; explosion; fire; LPG; Natech; seismic; Tohoku; valve; violation. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Pembroke - 04 June 2011

Incident: Lean Amine Tank Explosion. Location: UK. Keywords: amine; contractor; electrostatic; explosion; fire; hose; MoC; Pembroke; procedure; pyrophoric; risk; siphon; supervision; training. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Richmond - 06 August 2012

Incident: Light gas oil sidedraw line rupture. Location: USA. Keywords: CDU, corrosion, design, fire, fittings, HTSC, pipe, Richmond, risk, silicon, smoke. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Antwerp - 19 November 2013

Incident: steam explosion during valve maintenance. Location: Belgium. Keywords: Antwerp; bolt; caustic; clamp; corrosion; explosion; flange; leak; risk; SCC; steam; torque. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Martinez - 12 February 2014

Incident: Sulphuric acid release from acid sampling system. Location: USA. Keywords: acid; alkylation; burn; compression; culture; design; exposure; ferrule; leadership; Martinez; PPE; procedure; sample; training; tubing. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Torrance - 18 February 2015

Incident: FCC Electrostatic Precipitator Explosion. Location: USA. Keywords: erosion; ESP; FCC; explosion; HF; inspection; isolation; leak; maintenance; park; procedure; risk; SCSV; spark; Torrance; valve. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Baton Rouge - 22 November 2016

Incident: Isobutane release during maintenance. Location: USA. Keywords: alkylation; Baton; bonnet; cloud; fire; gearbox; hierarchy; human; isobutane; plug; procedure; release; training; valve. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Rotterdam - 21 August 2017

Incident: xylene column reboiler tube rupture and major fire. Location: Netherlands. Keywords: alarm; CoW; fire; furnace; maintenance; override; oversight; procedure; rupture; trip; risk; Rotterdam; standby. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Superior - 26 April 2018

Incident: FCC explosion and asphalt fire. Location: USA. Keywords: absorber; asphalt; barrier; brittle; bund; explosion; fire; FCC; HF; layout; pyrophoric; procedure; PSM; safeguard; SCSV; Superior; training; transient. Author: Peter Marsh.

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Girard Point - 21 June 2019

Incident: Hydrofluoric acid alkylation unit multiple explosions. Location: USA. Keywords: alkylation; BLEVE; copper; corrosion; elbow; explosion; fire; Girard; HF; inspection; nickel; PMI; rupture; safeguards; spray. Author: Peter Marsh.

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