Washington — Chemical services ought to create processes to manage or remove “dead legs” – stagnant sections of piping which may be inclined to corrosion or hazardous supplies, the Chemical Safety Board says.
The board has launched a video on a November 2019 fire and explosion on the TPC Group chemical plant in Port Neches, TX.
The incident occurred after vapor that had shaped on the base of a butadiene ending tower ignited.
CSB, which accomplished a remaining report on the incident in December, discovered that the power inadequately managed the buildup of hazardous “popcorn polymer,” which had gathered inside a useless leg for at the very least 114 days. The buildup triggered a rupture within the piping, which launched the flammable butadiene and brought about an explosion.
The employer didn’t create and implement emergency shutdown procedures and didn’t examine and take a look at course of vessel and piping parts.
“Had TPC’s procedures specifically identified the potential for a dead leg to form when the primary pump was offline, personnel may have taken action to prevent accumulation of popcorn polymer, such as prioritizing repair of the pump, purging the piping or adding popcorn polymer inhibitor to the dead leg,” Butch Griffin, CSB lead investigator, says within the video.
CSB calls on services to help efforts to manage useless legs and stop popcorn polymer buildup by establishing an efficient security administration system that may establish deviations in operation.
