On 29th Aug 2008, there was a large fire and explosion at a Bayer Cropscience facility near Charleston, W. Virginia. A team from the US Chemical Safety baord reportedly visited the site after the accident, but they have not released any investigation report as of now. The exact cause of the accident remains unknown, but … Read more
There is now yet another generation of instruments on the market-wireless! The developments in instruments are faster than what a traditional chemicals manufacturing plant was used to. First we had pneumatic/hydraulic & mechanical instruments, then analog instruments, then digital “smart” instruments, fieldbuses and now wireless. However, in this case these may prove to be very … Read more
Is it possible that if we use gas detectors to continuosly monitor the explosive limits in a classified (hazardous) location, we could manage it better? Of course! If you recall, the area classification concept itself is based on the amount of time in a year, an explosive gas mixture (or a combustible dust-air mixture) is … Read more
In a typical large chemical manufacturing plant or facility, typically there may be hundreds of gas detectors and gas monitors that warn operators about lurking hazards related to leaking chemicals and vapors. These detectors are installed during the plant startup or possibly are added after a few incidents or as the result of HAZOP or … Read more
Continuing with our series on the US Chemical Safety Board accident investigation videos, we discuss today the most insidous and hidden hazards in the chemical processing industry-Static Electricity. Why is static electricity so hazardous in chemical plants? Simply because many inflammable liquids (like most solvents), tend to accumulate static charges on their surface, especially when … Read more
