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    Case Study - BLSR OPERATING, LTD Fire Incident - Rev.0

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    smrndrdas
    Three workers died and four were injured in a vapor cloud deflagration and fire at a waste disposal facility in Texas. Two vacuum trucks unloading sediment and water (BS&W) from natural gas sites experienced engine overspeed, likely due to flammable vapors in the BS&W. This led to a deflagration that engulfed the trucks and pit area in fire. The incident was caused by a failure to recognize the potential flammability of BS&W and a lack of safe handling procedures. Key learnings included recognizing flammability hazards, having emergency procedures, avoiding ignition sources, and ensuring vehicle engines have overspeed protection when handling flammable materials.

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    Case Study - BLSR OPERATING, LTD Fire Incident - Rev.0

    Uploaded by

    smrndrdas
    140 views22 pages
    Three workers died and four were injured in a vapor cloud deflagration and fire at a waste disposal facility in Texas. Two vacuum trucks unloading sediment and water (BS&W) from natural gas sites experienced engine overspeed, likely due to flammable vapors in the BS&W. This led to a deflagration that engulfed the trucks and pit area in fire. The incident was caused by a failure to recognize the potential flammability of BS&W and a lack of safe handling procedures. Key learnings included recognizing flammability hazards, having emergency procedures, avoiding ignition sources, and ensuring vehicle engines have overspeed protection when handling flammable materials.

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    Case Study_BLSR Ltd

    Original Title

    Case Study_BLSR OPERATING, LTD Fire Incident_Rev.0

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    Three workers died and four were injured in a vapor cloud deflagration and fire at a waste disposal facility in Texas. Two vacuum trucks unloading sediment and water (BS&W) from natural gas sites experienced engine overspeed, likely due to flammable vapors in the BS&W. This led to a deflagration that engulfed the trucks and pit area in fire. The incident was caused by a failure to recognize the potential flammability of BS&W and a lack of safe handling procedures. Key learnings included recognizing flammability hazards, having emergency procedures, avoiding ignition sources, and ensuring vehicle engines have overspeed protection when handling flammable materials.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    140 views22 pages

    Case Study - BLSR OPERATING, LTD Fire Incident - Rev.0

    Uploaded by

    smrndrdas
    Three workers died and four were injured in a vapor cloud deflagration and fire at a waste disposal facility in Texas. Two vacuum trucks unloading sediment and water (BS&W) from natural gas sites experienced engine overspeed, likely due to flammable vapors in the BS&W. This led to a deflagration that engulfed the trucks and pit area in fire. The incident was caused by a failure to recognize the potential flammability of BS&W and a lack of safe handling procedures. Key learnings included recognizing flammability hazards, having emergency procedures, avoiding ignition sources, and ensuring vehicle engines have overspeed protection when handling flammable materials.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 22

    Case Study on Vapor Cloud deflagration & fire

    kl

    BLSR OPERATING, LTD.,


    Texas, USA

    In January 2003

    Source :
    U.S. C HEMICAL S AFETY AND H AZARD I NVESTIGATION B OARD
    CONTENTS

    THE INCIDENT

    ABOUT THE UNIT

    PRE-INCIDENT SCENARIO

    INCIDENT SCENARIO

    ANALYSIS

    LEARNINGs
    The Incident
    The Incident

    INCIDENT :

    “ FIRE during unloading sediment & water


    from trucks into an open pit ”

    RESULT :

     Release of hydrocarbon vapour in an E&P facility


     Vapour cloud deflagration & pool fire
     Fire destroyed two vacuum trucks & equipments,
     3 workers succumbed to death & 4 workers seriously injured
    The Incident Place

    Incident Place
    The Unit, Equipment & Process
    The Unit

     BLSR Operating, Ltd. (BLSR), located in Texas


     A waste disposal company operates 24 x 7

    INCIDENT Occurred @ a open disposal/unloading pit area


    Vacuum Trucks

     Company was operate Vacuum trucks for unloading basic


    sediment & water (BS&W) collected from natural gas well sites

    Typical Vacuum Truck


    Generation of BS&W

    In Gas well operation,

     Wellhead gas stream flows through separators to remove produced


    water & liquid hydrocarbons.
     Water is stored in an aboveground storage tank
     Liquid HC is passed through a heater-treater to break down the
    emulsion in above ground tanks
     Resident time provides further separation of liquid from entrained solid.
     BS & W settles to the tank bottom & condensate floats.

    Once BS&W level exceeds, the company notifies


    the waste hauler to remove it from tank

    * Liquid hydrocarbon contains contaminants including


    water, paraffin, sand along with hydrocarbon
    Pre-Incident Scenario
    Pre-Incident Scenario

    Pre-Incident :

     Truck drivers collected BS&W from the storage tanks from two sites
     One truck 46 barrels & other one 50 barrels
     Relied on the truck sight gauges to determine volume of liquid removed from
    the storage tanks
     Both trucks arrived within minutes of each other
     Employees were clearing earlier delivery mud
    deposits from the pad area by cleaning water

    Identifying the hazard class of BS&W & quantity of


    liquid to be disposed has to be specified by owner
    Sight Gauge
    Pre-Incident Scenario
    Pre-Incident :

     Drivers left the engines running & went to shed for paper works
     Two BLSR employees opened valves to drain the truck tanks
     One employee climbed one truck to remove the manway cover bolts

     Suddenly one truck engine started


    to race & slowed
     Then violently raced again blowing
    thick black smoke from stack
     Loud backfiring was heard & 2nd
    truck also started to race violently
     Alerted drivers approached
    respective side doors
    Incident Scenario
    Incident Scenario

    Deflagration occurred

     There was a flash of lightning under a truck.


     Both trucks were completely engulfed by fire along with partial pit
     Intense pool fire producing a large amount of thick black smoke &
    very intense heat with 15 feet high was noticed
     Two employees caught in the deflagration were fatally burnt
    Incident Scenario

     Canopy above the unloading pad sustained major heat damage


     Equipment in electrical shed sustained radiant heat damage
    Incident Analysis
    Incident Analysis
     Waste water generated at E & P sites include salt water & fresh
    water, drilling mud and BS&W – all contains hydrocarbon liquids

     BS & W & other waste liquid are higher density & settle to the
    tank bottom, higher tank temp. promotes hydrocarbon separation.

     Significant volumes of waste liquid including potentially


    flammable BS&W accumulate when offloading onto the pit

    Accumulated BS&W
    Incident Analysis
     No accurate measurement of how much hydrocarbon is
    included in the BS&W loaded into the trucks

     The facility consists of a salt water, mud disposal & washout


    pad, there are no provision of recovering the crude oil from the
    waste liquid that is unloaded on to mud and washout pit
    Incident Analysis

    Root Cause:
     BS&W Material safety datasheet (MSDS) was not provided,
    unaware of hazard involved in the material to be drained
     Unsafe handling practices, when offloading flammable liquid onto
    mud disposal or washout pad
     Truck engines were not equipped with Over speed protection
    devices in the intake or exhaust systems
     Backfiring caused by the engine over speed is more likely ignition
    source
    Incident Analysis
    Key Findings:

    Diesel engine over-speed, an indication of flammable vapor presence


    Failure to recognize the potential flammability of BS&W
    Failure to implement work practices at the well site & at the waste
    disposal facility
    Failure to recognise potential ignition sources while handling BS&W
    Inadequate training to employees
    Improper tank labelling would have created awareness among
    workers

    If a flammable vapor continues to be available through vehicle air intake


    system, the engine will continue to run even when the fuel system is OFF
    Learnings !!

     Availability of written procedure on safe handling & safe disposal


    of waste liquids
     Availability of job specific Material Safety Datasheet (MSDS) &
    Potential flammability hazard
     Availability of job specific emergency procedures
     Review requirement of proper grounding/ earthing (to prevent
    static discharge) & elimination of other ignition sources in
    hazardous spots
     Reviewing of over speed protection system (intake shut-off valve &
    exhaust) in diesel vehicles/engines in case of operating hazardous
    locations.
     Conduct & document training of all personnel; addressing
    associated potential flammability
    THANK YOU

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