Flixborough explosion
Prepared by H00154197 – Daniel Alvarez
Date: 1st June 1974
Different, unusual, unique: Rapid explosion, happened during a weekend (only around 70 employees), In 1974
Nypro was the sole manufacturer of caprolactam in Great Britain
Facility site: Flixborough Nypro caprolactam plant, Flixborough, England
Task being performed: Cyclohexane oxidation
Impacts: 28 people killed, 89 injured, plant physical assets destroyed (180 million dollars), collateral damage: other minor injuries, around 2,000 buildings around site damaged
1. Account of the disaster
The Nypro caprolactam plant in Flixborough produced 70,000 tonnes/year, they moved from
20,000 tonnes a year by the addition of a new unit which employed cyclohexane in 1972.
The cyclohexane oxidation unit used to increase the plant capacity was composed of six reactors (20 tonne capacity each). The reactors were made of mild steel (13mm) with rustproof plating (3mm internally). “The throughput circulating from one reactor to the next through piping systems of 28” diameter is 250‐300m3h.”1
On March 27th 1974 a reactor 5 was found leaking and it was decided to take it out of service for repair. In order to maintain production a temporary bypass pipe was installed between the
No. 4 and No. 6 reactor. An inspection found a 6’ long crack had developed and reached the internal plating which had deteriorated as well.
Later through metallurgical analysis they found the cracks had generated through nitrate stress corrosion cracking. The plant operators had adopted the practice of spraying nitrate treated water to disperse leaks; this decision had not been properly assessed or discussed with any of the engineers.
The cost of loss production if the gap had not been bridged was ...
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...ol on changes**
Importance of hazard assessment during design*, **
Out of these lessons in our analysis we evaluated the consequences of not following licensing procedures to handle hazardous flammable material and having a large inventory in plant (*)
“ […] 330,000 gallons of cyclohexane, 66,000 gallons of naphta, 11,000 gallons of methyl benzene, 26,400 gallons of benzene, 450 gallons of gasoline.” LAGRADEC, P.
Without having this inventor in the first place the impact would have been to a lesser extent.
We also evaluated how lack of knowledge and understanding led management to create deficient management mechanisms. (**) Job clarity, functional competency, change control management, risk assessments, inspection and monitoring, were all deficient areas that should have been addressed by management had they understood the potential impact they had in their hands.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire not only affected the city of New York, but also the rest of the country. It forever changed the way our country would look at safety regulations in factories and buildings. The fire proved to America what can and will happen if we over-look safety regulations and over-crowd buildings. Unfortunately, 146 lives are taken before we fully understand this concept.
Inventors make many lives more comfortable and convenient. George Edward Alcorn, Jr. was a well-known inventor, but he was a well-established scientist and businessman.... ... middle of paper ... ...
"Nuclear Disasters: Chernobyl, Three Mile Island - CNN IReport." CNN IReport. Web. 19 Mar. 2011. .
...rting again. The fire itself was seen for miles and the heat was so intense that there was “hardly a building within a one block radius that was not scorched” (Reporter Front Page). Extinguished fire brands were found in all parts of the Eastern section of the city. Some brands were even found in Lakeside Park. The force of the gas explosions in the garage blew debris from E 2nd and Marr to half way down Ellis St. This shows just how large the fire actually was.
Many of them were human impacts. One impact for example was that from the years 1963–1979, the number of reactors under construction globally increased every year except 1971 and 1978. However, following the event, the number of reactors under construction in the U.S. declined every year from 1980–1998. This was of course encouraged by the accident. Many reactors were even cancelled. 57 nuclear reactors were cancelled from 1980-1984. The world still has a lot of nuclear reactors because of this accident though. Even though it was a turning point, it made us more aware of the dangers and then we could build safer and more modified power
The activities within the Hanford Nuclear Site is a mystery, but the information released to the public is what is available. The Hanford Nuclear Site was first established in 1943 to produce the plutonium for nuclear weapons such as the 2 atomic bombs dropped during World War 2. The nuclear site homed the first full-scale plutonium production reactor in the world known as the B Reactor or 105-B. The site also contained 3 nuclear reactors which were 105-B, 105-D, and 105-F and three plutonium processing canyons which were 221-T, 221-B, and 221-U. During 1945 after the war ended, the site has built 554 buildings.
March 25th 1911 is the day one of the largest deadly workplace fires occurred. 146 factory workers died on this day as they fought to escape the Triangle Shirtwaist factory only to find locked exits, and faulty fire escapes. The public witnessed this display of poor fire safety and was quickly filled with sorrow. William Gunn Shepard claimed, “I remember their great strike of last year, in which these girls demanded more sanitary workrooms, and more safety precautions in the shops…. These dead bodies told the result.” This fire is often referred to as the tragedy that awakened the consciousness of America. The Triangle Fire showed the public the horrific working conditions that thousands of employees had at the time. The death of these 146
Jonsson, P. (2013, May 10). Unexpected twists in case of deadly blast at Texas fertilizer plant.
“Workers at the plant were performing tests on the system. They shut off the emergency safety systems and the cooling system, against established regulations, in preparation for the tests. Even when the warning signs of dangerous overheating began to appear, the workers failed to stop the test. Xenon gases built up and at 1:23 a.m. the first explosion rocked the reactor. A total of three explosions eventually blew the 1,000-ton steel top right off of the reactor” (History).
Around 4:00 a.m. March 28, 1979, in a non-nuclear section of the Unit 2 plant, the main feed water pumps stopped running.Because of this malfunction, steam generators were not able to remove the heat.This led to complicated chain of events.First, as designed, the turbine shut down, followed by the reactor itself.This led to a rise in the pressure, so the pressurized relief valve opened, just like it was supposed to do.However, when the pressure decreased to accepted levels, the valve should have closed, instead it remained open, it was stuck.This led to a continued decrease in the pressure of the system.[6]Also, in another part of the plant, the emergency feed water system failed to operate because of a human error; the valve was left closed whe...
Gillam, C. M. (2013, May 7). Ammonium nitrate stores exploded at Texas plant: state agency. Reuters.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in Manhattan, New York City on March 25, 1911 was one of the deadliest industrial disasters in the history of the city, and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history. Triangle Waist Company was one of the largest blouse makers in New York City. They specialized in making shirtwaists, the very popular women's blouse that had a tight waist and puffy sleeves. Approximately 500 people, mostly immigrant women, worked at the Triangle Waist Company's factory, in the Asch Building. They worked long hours, six days a week, in cramped quarters and were paid low wages. Many of the workers were young, some only age 13 or 14. The source of this fire was due to a lit cigarette on the ninth floor. The women on the ninth floor were not able to escape. The exit doors were locked, and the owners on the tenth floor were able to escape. One recalled, the clawed nails of the women being trapped. The large number of deaths exposed the dangerous conditions in high-rise factories prompted the creation of new building, fire, and safety codes around the United States. Most of the victims died as a result of neglected safety features and locked doors within the factory building. The trag...
During the early 1900s industrial fires or accidents were common place; injuries and the loss of life may have outraged a few people but like all tragedies the outrage would pass quickly and it would back to business as usual. One such tragedy occurred on Saturday, March 25th, 1911, it was closing time at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and hundreds of employees were preparing to leave when a fire broke out on the 8th floor trapping Jewish and Italian immigrants, the majority of them young women. One hundred and forty-six people died in futile attempts to escape the burning ten story building. The main doors were during the day kept locked and only one doorway was opened for the hundreds of employees to file out, one by one, as their belongings were searched for pilfered goods. Blanck and Harris, owners of the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, faced no consequences in regards to the unsafe working environment and the death of their employees. David von Drehle, in his book, Triangle, The Fire That Changed America, states that this particular fire changed the political and industrial landscape of the United States; it was no longer ignored by the working masses nor was it quickly dismissed by the public - the public consisted of a huge immigration population from Europe, the “transfer of labor power and brain power” that eventually lead to women’s striking in the garment industry and setting a precedent in New York (Triangle, 3, 4). Several groups like the moneyed, educated elite women, the muckrakers, the Labor Unions, and the political machines that controlled neighborhoods of New York pushed for political, economic, and legal changes to the industrial systems - in a democratic social time of reform – they were like much welcomed rain ...
Prior loading of next cargo the vessel was required to carry out gas free and cleaning operation of the cargo tank. To complete the gas free operation, vessel used de-humidifier system which produce air and passed to the cargo tanks via forward store. [36]
Abstract- A tragedy that was a catastrophe and had no parallel in the world’s industrial history. Tons of toxic gas was leaked and spread throughout the city. An estimated 10,000 people died and 500,000 suffered injuries with disastrous effect.