Fire was detected at 10:05 pm in the stainless steel sheet stripping unit of an upper-tier Seveso metallurgical plant. The surface treatment line, composed of 7 unheated polypropylene tanks (5 containing hydrochloric acid, 1 containing hydrofluoric acid, 1 containing nitric[...]
At 2:30 pm inside a paper mill located 5 km east of Arcachon Bay, a 5,000-m³ black liquor tank ruptured. Black liquor is a highly alkaline paper manufacturing residue composed of organic matter, soda and other chemical products; it serves[...]
Around 10:30 pm in the isocyanate unit at a chemical plant, a sensor detected a rapid conductivity rise in a heat exchanger, in which phosgene (COCl2) pressurised to tens of bar was being reheated with water vapour at 28 bar before[...]
At 6:56 pm inside a warehouse for phytosanitary products assigned an upper-tier Seveso classification, the activation of a foam-based automatic extinction system installed in a 1,000-m² cell brought fire-fighters to the scene 44 min later. By the time responders arrived,[...]
A kerosene leak (A1 jet category) was detected on a pipeline (nominal diameter DN: 108, pressure: 13.8 bar, operational since: 1942) connecting a refinery to a storage area outside the oil platform site. The quantity of lost product was estimated[...]
Connecting an oil terminal to a chemical plant 1.5 km away, a heat-insulated pipeline pressurised at 300 mm was perforated following a period of intense cold weather; 4 m³ of benzene had solidified upon shrinking below 5°C. By 2:50 pm,[...]
At a plant producing substances used in medical imaging, a temperature control defect on a biconical dryer caused product decomposition during the drying cycle. The subsequent pressure surge led, around 10 pm, to the explosion of part of the glass[...]
In an oil depot, 3,750 m³ of unleaded gasoline were transferred from one storage tank to another at the end of the afternoon by remote control from the site's control room in order to prepare for a barge loading. Around[...]
At a petrochemical plant, a pipe supplying air to a steam production boiler exploded at 3:40 pm, triggering a few seconds later a 2nd and more powerful explosion on a duct used to recover volatile organic compounds (VOC). The explosion[...]
Several lightning strikes were recorded in a refinery at 7:25 pm, one of which caused the expansion space to explode on a 2,000-m³ capacity buffer tank (for collection and settlement) filled with 770 m³ of process water. The hydrocarbon supernatants[...]
