Explosion and Fire at a Diesel Hydrogenation Plant (1044)

The incident affected the raw material buffer tank (design pressure 0.38 MPa) of a diesel hydrogenation unit in a refinery. This buffer tank is located between the hydrogenation reactor and the raw material storage tank. During pressure fluctuations in the lubricating oil system of a hydrogen compressor, the operator handled the situation improperly, resulting in an abnormal shutdown of the compressor, causing the hydrogen feed pump to interlock and stop.After the pump interlocked, the outlet valve was not closed in time and the two check valves failed.