Fire And Explosion At Acetylene Gas Processing Factory

{vozmestart right}

An accident at an acetylene gas processing factory which is located north of the peninsula had occurred on 22 May 2008 at 9.00 pm.
Initial investigation revealed that the fire started from the refilling area for the acetylene gas cylinders. Refilling process for the cylinders with acetylene gas starts at 9.00 am and lasts for 8 hours. For record, there were 180 cylinders filled with acetylene gas at refilling station during the accident.
Observation showed that most of the factory building structures was damaged and more than 360 cylinders had exploded. One of the gas refilling workers suffered burns on 30% of his body.
The quantities of acetylene and acetone in the factory were found to be more than 10% of the threshold limit value. Therefore, the factory has to comply to Occupational Safety and Health (Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazard) Regulations 1996.
The fire started due to leakage of acetylene gas at one of the refilling valves and there was no automatic control system device to monitor the quantity of acetylene gas that was released to the working area. Besides, the check valves along the pipe work were found to be not functioning properly. Furthermore, the design of the factory was not suitable for such hazardous process.
Recommendations:
i. Safety features such as safety valves, flash fire arrestors, non-return valves, relief valves must be installed in accordance to the acceptable code of practice. ii. The owner shall ensure that all valves for the gas cylinders and pipe works are maintained and inspected periodically. iii. An automatic control safety system must be installed to detect any leakage and pressure differences during the acetylene gas refilling process. iv. To adopt good process safety control for such hazardous plant. v. To ensure that the factory compound is declared as a prohibited area and matches, lighters and mobile phones shall be kept away from the processing area.
References:
» Standard AIGA 037/06 http://www.asiaiga.org/publications.asp » Facility planning for gas manufacturing plant sunzi1.lib.hku.hk/hkjo/view/41/4100167.pdf

{vozmeend}

Print Email