Archive for April, 2010
Oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico-12 missing and several injured
For a great guide to Safety Integrity Level, IEC 61511 and other topics, download the e-learning course on Safety Instrumented Systems here.
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April 21, 2010 -Several people were missing and others reported to be injured, after an explosion on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil rig, named Deepwater Horizon, is about 40 miles from the Louisiana coast is in operation for BP, through an owner -operator/ contractor company Transocean.
Several Coast Guard choppers and vessels are engaged in search and rescue operations in the area. The blast was reported to have occured on Tuesday night at about 10 pm. The cause remains unclear.
The environmental impact of the event is as yet not known. The missing persons apparently boarded a life boat, which is now untraceable. There is a video of the event on You Tube posted below.
Does your plant use HIPPS?
Miami, Apr 15, 2010- Do you know what HIPPS stands for? Its an acronym for High Integrity Pressure Protection System. Next question-does your plant or facility use such a system? If so, please tell us about your experience-good,bad or ugly. You can use the comments form below to post.
For the uninitiated, HIPPS is a special type of Safety Instrumented System that is used to implement pressure protection. Generally mechanical devices like Safety Relief Valves (SRVs) and Rupture Disks are used to relieve overpressure in equipment. However the performance of these devices is not always reliable. Besides venting out the system’s gases may not be desirable due to environmental reasons. So HIPPS are used. In a typical HIPPS there is a dual redundant(1oo2) or Triple Redundant (1oo3) configuration of pressure transmitters in the pipeline that carries the high pressure (say a gas line) to an equipment that is sought to be protected (say a gas storage vessel).
In case of the traditional system, one would have had rupture disks on the pipeline and possibly SRVs on the vessel to protect it in case the gas pressure exceeded the safe operating pressure of the vessel-however in case of a HIPPS, the pressure transmitters will transmit the overpressure signal within fraction of a second to a SIS logic solver that will trigger the shutdown of the line using quick shutoff valves.
This is shown in the picture below.
For a more detailed study about Safety Instrumented Systems , including HIPPS, download the training course here.
High Integrity Pressure Protection System
Tesoro Anacortes refinery fire-CSB starts investigations
Update on the Tesoro refinery fire that resulted in three fatalities and several injuries
Washington DC, April 2, 2010 -A four-member investigative team from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) is deploying to the scene of an explosion and fire overnight in a naphtha hydrotreater unit at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, Washington.
Three workers were reported to be killed and four were hospitalized for burns.
Currently, the board is investigating an October 2009 flash fire at a Tesoro Refinery in Salt Lake City, Utah, that occurred when flammable liquid overfilled a flare stack and ignited.
CSB Chairman and CEO John Bresland said, “The CSB has eighteen ongoing investigations. Of those, seven of these accidents occurred at refineries across the country. This is a significant and disturbing trend that the refining industry needs to address immediately.”
The team will be led by CSB Investigatons Supervisor Robert Hall, PE. Board Member William B. Wark will accompany the team.
Chairman Bresland said the large-scale deployment to Washington State will further complicate efforts to complete other important cases, including the CSB’s investigations of the Caribbean Petroleum fuel terminal fire near San Juan, Puerto Rico; the CITGO refinery hydrogen fluoride release and fire in Corpus Christi, Texas; the Goodyear heat exchanger rupture and ammonia release in Houston, Texas; and the Exxon Mobil refinery hydrogen fluoride release in Joliet, Illinois.
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Tip of the day: For a comprehensive training course on Safety Instrumentation ( SIS, HIPPS, ESD) and so on have a look here.
Tesoro Refinery Fire causes fatalities
Update: View the latest update on this incident here.
Anacortes,WA April 1, 2010- Yet another explosion and fire at a Tesoro refinery, this time in Washington State. The company is already under investigation by the Chemical Safety Board for a previous fire in one of its refineries in Salt Lake City.
An explosion and fire at about 12:30 hours was reported at the Anacortes oil refinery of Tesoro that caused three fatalities and four injuries. The injured are being treated at a Seattle hospital.Residents in the areas near the refinery reported the fire and explosion to local TV stations, who then broke the story. Reports say that the refinery was undergoing routine maintenance of a Naptha unit when the explosion and fire occured.
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For excellent training courses on Safety Instrumented Systems, Gas Monitors
Hazardous Area Instrumentation and Area Classification, please click here.
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Here is a video of the event
The Tesoro Anacortes refinery fire is the deadliest accident involving production at a U.S. refinery since the BP Texas City explosion on March 23, 2005 in which 15 workers were killed and 180 others injured.
In the past many accidents have taken place in many refinery and petrochemical complexes during maintenance work, that has been reported not only in this blog but at many other news sources. This emphasizes that additional care has to be taken by facilities that are undergoing maintenance activities.
