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Low pressure separator catastrophic failure

Published on 20/09/23 700 Views

A hydrocracker unit was being restarted after a spurious high reactor temperature trip. Hydrogen was circulating through the reaction section with hydrogen leak-off from the high pressure separator liquid outlet to the low pressure separator being regulated by 2 control valves. When the control valves were placed in manual mode, they opened fully and over-pressured the LP separator. The vessel suffered an explosive failure, releasing its contents to atmosphere as a cloud or mist which subsequently ignited.

Ask yourself and your crew:

  • How can something like this happen here (e.g. on our site)?
  • What safety measures (i.e. procedures, controls/barriers) do we have in place to mitigate the risk?
  • How do we know the risk controls/barriers are working?
  • What improvements or changes should we make to the procedures, controls/barriers or the way we work?

Original content courtesy of IChemE Safety Centre