Explosion at a Hydrocracking Reactor of a Refinery
An explosion occurred in a hydrocracking reactor fitted with TOC which is a automatic cut-off system for raw oil and hydrogen supply. On the day of the incident, the operation was stopped with TOC being triggered, but the cause was not identified. Hydrogen circulation was restarted, and some 5 hours later, the loud explosion took place around a low pressure separator, rupturing the reactor and throwing debris in all directions. The contents were released to form a vapour cloud which ignited followed by a fire ball.
Event Date
January 1, 1987
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
oil and raw supply, low pressure separator, reactor
Location Type
Location description
Industrial Area
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
Unknown
Event Nature
Emergency Action
Unknown
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
Orignal source lost. RISCAD is closed.