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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