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Over pressure causes production tank damage

What happened - icon

What happened?

A crew was hydrotesting a newly constructed pipeline when an incident occurred.

During pigging operations, hydrotest fluid and the pig became lodged. While the crew dewatered and depressured the equipment, a large volume of air inadvertently escaped into the adjacent 400-barrel production tank. High pressure in the tank blew off the tank lid and vent lines.

No one was injured in the incident, but it could have resulted in severe or fatal injuries to workers in the surrounding area.

A view of a typical 400-barrel production tank to pig catcher set up.
What happened - icon

Why did it happen?

  • Hydrotest fluid froze during the dewatering process.
  • A non-pressurized production tank was used.
  • The hydro-testing plan did not include a process that recognized appropriate risk associated with the change in process, including evaluation, risk controls and equipment operating limits.
What happened - icon

What did they learn?

  • Work with a professional engineer to develop the appropriate engineering controls i.e., equipment selection, use and configuration.
  • Revise project specific hydro-testing plans, appropriate management of change processes and authorizations.
What happened - icon

Ask yourself or 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?
  • What happened?

    A crew was hydrotesting a newly constructed pipeline when an incident occurred.

    During pigging operations, hydrotest fluid and the pig became lodged. While the crew dewatered and depressured the equipment, a large volume of air inadvertently escaped into the adjacent 400-barrel production tank. High pressure in the tank blew off the tank lid and vent lines.

    No one was injured in the incident, but it could have resulted in severe or fatal injuries to workers in the surrounding area.

    A view of a typical 400-barrel production tank to pig catcher set up.
  • Why did it happen?

    • Hydrotest fluid froze during the dewatering process.
    • A non-pressurized production tank was used.
    • The hydro-testing plan did not include a process that recognized appropriate risk associated with the change in process, including evaluation, risk controls and equipment operating limits.
    Why did it happen - icon
  • What did they learn?

    • Work with a professional engineer to develop the appropriate engineering controls i.e., equipment selection, use and configuration.
    • Revise project specific hydro-testing plans, appropriate management of change processes and authorizations.
    What learn - icon
  • Ask yourself or 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?
    Ask your crew - icon
Published on 09/04/23 1139 Views

A crew was hydrotesting a newly constructed pipeline. During pigging operations, hydrotest fluid and the pig became lodged. While the crew dewatered and depressurized the equipment, a large volume of air inadvertently escaped into the adjacent production tank. High pressure in the tank blew off the tank lid and vent lines. No one was injured in the incident, but it could have resulted in severe or fatal injuries to workers in the surrounding area.