Emergency Stop of Chp Plant
The incident aoccurred ina biogas-fed Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Stationary system, working in CHP mode.A sudden stop of the biogas feeding line caused the safety shutdown of the plant (SOFC module).The reason was ice formation inside the chiller (located after the biogas compressor) and inside the condensing discharge piping. This ice was creating a pressure drop across the compressor, which went into alarm mode. By the following maintenance, more heating power has been installed on the pipelines and the ventilation speed was reduced during winter time.
Event Date
December 17, 2017
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Causes
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
chiller, piping
Storage/Process Medium
Location Type
Location description
Industrial Area
Operational Condition
Pre-event Summary
The event was unplanned. No signals or problems related to the biogas line were detected in the previous days
Consequences
Number of Injured Persons
4
Currency
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
Corrective actions taken by the plant operator after the event: (1)maintenance; installation of trace heating on all piping and inverter control on the ventilation blower.(2)Monitoring of the container internal temperature during the next seasons and in particularly during the winter.A risk assessment identified a major risk for the SOFC plant operation in the fact that there are no redundancies on the fuel feeding line.
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
Report provided but confidential