| Case Name |
Fire of gasoline fire during drain work at a filter of lorry shipping facilities |
| Pictograph |
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| Date |
June 24, 1987 |
| Place |
Sakai, Osaka, Japan |
| Location |
Refinery |
| Overview |
A mistake during drain work for a filter at a tank lorry station of a refinery caused 500 L of gasoline to leak, and a fire occurred. Hanging a pail with a plastic handle on the drain valve generated an insulated condition. As the drain work was done at a bigger valve opening than usual, drain was ignited by a spark discharge of static electricity, and the fire spread. Since the fire occurred near the drain valve and the valve could not be closed, the leakage became a lot of quantity. |
| Incident |
Drain work for a gasoline shipping filter was carried out at a tank lorry station in a refinery. When the valve was opened, gasoline flowed from the drain nozzle by mistake. It ignited in the receiver. The valve could not be closed because the leaking gasoline was burning around the drain valve. 500 L of gasoline leaked, and the fire spread. Refer to Fig2. |
| Processing |
Manufacture |
| Individual Process |
Transfer |
| Substance |
Gasoline |
| Type of Accident |
Leakage, Fire |
| Sequence |
1. Two operators carried out drain work at a shipping filter which was to be conducted once a week.
2. One operator hooked the handle of a pail (receiver) onto the drain valve, and they started draining.
3. The valve was thought to be clogged because the flow of drain became smaller during work. The valve was once closed. Then it was opened with a 1/2 rotation not the usual 1/4 rotation. Gasoline flowed out rapidly accompanied by a mist.
4. A fire broke out almost simultaneously in the pail when the gasoline flowed out. Workers tried to carry the bucket outside.
5. They tried to close the valve to stop the gasoline leakage. However, they could not close the valve because of the burning gasoline. |
| Cause |
1. The handle of the pail was made of plastic, and the pail was hung with this handle. Therefore, the pail was insulated and there was a strong possibility of static electricity being charged during the drain work.
2. Gasoline with a mist flowed out and ignited when the valve was opened by a 1/2 rotation. It is speculated that a lot of static electricity was generated in the mist.
3. The cause is considered to be ignition by electrostatic discharge.
The slightly clogged valve led to the bigger valve opening and a flow of mist. However, draining operation itself is a countermeasure for the accumulation of a slight volume of water accompanied with gasoline. Besides, the valve material was steel. It is natural to have slight clogging of a valve. |
| Response |
An emergency shut-off valve of the piping was closed remotely. |
| Countermeasures |
1. Preventing ignition by static electricity. Proper bonding of antistatic and earth of a bucket.
2. Thorough safety consciousness and education on safety management.
3. Retraining on static electricity should be carried out also for a subcontractor. |
| Knowledge Comment |
The electrostatic charge prevention should be made completely and static electricity management should be improved. Ignition is often caused by static electricity, so it is necessary to take sufficient earthing measures. |
| Background |
1. In the background of the accident, there was a lack of safety consciousness due to insufficient education and training on static electricity. An insulated condition will be naturally caused if a pail is hung by its plastic handle, and generation of static electricity will also be natural if a mixture of water and gasoline flows.
2. The two workers were the subcontractor's workers. When a subcontractor's workers handle dangerous materials independently of the operating company's workers, safety education should be given in the same way as in the operating company. The safety education for the subcontractor's workers might have been left to the subcontractor. |
| Reason for Adding to DB |
Example of accident caused due to static electricity during drain work |
| Scenario |
| Primary Scenario
|
Organizational Problems, Poor Management, Poor Operation Management, Carelessness, Insufficient Understanding, Insufficient Knowledge of Static Eletricity, Malicious Act, Rule Violation, Safety Rule Violation, Regular Movement, Careless Movement, Hanging Pail on Valve, Usage, Operation/Use, Rust Accumulation, Bad Event, Electrical Failure, Isolation, Bad Event, Mechanical Event, Leakage, Secondary Damage, External Damage, Fire, Bodily Harm, Injury, 3 person injured
|
|
| Sources |
High Pressure Gas Safety Inst. of Japan, Shipping facility, Fire at micro filter of land shipping facility, Accident Examples of Petroleum refinery and Petrochemical units, pp.97-100 (1995).
|
| Number of Injuries |
3 |
| Physical Damage |
Gasoline, a bucket |
| Multimedia Files |
Fig2.Sketch of the accident operation
|
| Notes |
The following types of oil require static electricity countermeasures: light naphtha, gasoline, BTX, Platformate, heavy naphtha, kerosene, gas oil, and their intermediate products. |
| Field |
Chemicals and Plants
|
| Author |
KOSEKI, Hirosi (National Research Institute of Fire and Disaster)
TAMURA, Masamitsu (Center for Risk Management and Safety Sciences, Yokohama National University)
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