Fire in a Benzene Plant
During repairs of a heat exchanger in a benzene plant, a mixed gas (methane and hydrogen) contained in the cold box attached to the exchanger leaked and caught fire from a welding spark. The exchanger was severely damaged by the fire.The cause of the incident: The valve was not provided with a blind plate, the cold box was in a incomplete closed position.
Event Date
April 30, 1974
Record Quality Indicator
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Cause Comments
Leak, operation inadequate and spark, Benzene plant Japan, Kurashiki City
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
Heat exchanger
Location Type
Location description
Industrial Area
Pre-event Summary
The valve was not provided with a blind plate, the cold box was in a incomplete closed position.
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
Event description extracted from the UK database ICHEME in PDF
ICHEME database is no longer available for purchase, but data can be download as PDF for free.
https://www.icheme.org/knowledge/safety-centre/resources/accident-data/
(accessed October 2020)