Fire in a Chemical Factory
A fire broke out following a hydrogen leak on the cyclododecane unit in a chemical plant. A plume of smoke became visible outside the site. The fire was brought under control by putttng the unit in safe mode, implementing the internal resources available on site (monitor lance, sprinkler ring and extinguishers), and finally by the inervention of the internal firefighters. The staff was evacuated and the internal crisis unit triggered. The fire was extinguished in 30 minutes. The post-incident analysis revealed a hole in the connection of the vent manifold, upstream of the evacuation pipe. The failure was caused by external corrosion under the thermal insulation layer. It caused a hydrogen leak and a flow of cyclododecane. The released hydrogen auto-ignited and the fire spread to the cyclododecane.
Event Date
March 1, 2022
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Cause Comments
The immediate cause was the failure of a connection due to external corrosion. The presence of a thermal insulation layers around the piping did not allow for a visual inspection of the components. This is a well-known cause for corrosion to proceeded to full component failure, and suggest a lack of inspection/maintenance management
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
furnace, exhaust pipe
Storage/Process Medium
Location Type
Location description
Unknown
Operational Condition
Consequences
Number of Injured Persons
4
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
Following the event, the operator implemented the following actions: To repair of all vent collectors and the evacuation pipe; To add an alarm on the relative concentrations between raw materials, to detect overconsumption of hydrogen; To add an audible and visual alarm locally in the workshop in case of fire; To inform of the event all production teams.
Event Nature
Emergency Action
The fire was brought under control by putttng the unit i nsafe mode, implementing the internal resources available on site (monitor lance, sprinkler ring and extinguishers), and finally by the inervention of the internal firefighters. The staff was evacuated and the internal crisis unit triggered. The fire was extinguished in 30 minutes.
Release Type
Release Substance
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
ARIA event
https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/accident/58702/
(accessed July 2023)