Refinery Gets 3 Citations for Load Rack Explosion

OSHA inspectors' finding was that NFPA 30- 2008 Chapter 28 section 11.1.7 was not being followed. Chapter 28 section 11.1.7 describes equipment requirements for loading and unloading of tank vehicles states: when bottom loading a tank vehicle, a positive means shall be provided for loading a predetermined quantity of liquid, together with a secondary automatic shutoff control to prevent overfilling.

Like NPFA 30 (2008), API RP 1004 (2003) describes use of independent secondary shut-off control specifically for preventing overfills/spills. However it should be reported that over 95% of bottom loading taker truck facilities are not compliant with either.

API defines proper valve closure at 1 to 2 seconds. Based on empirical valve performance data there are an estimated 236 valve failures per day in the US alone. A valve failure is defined as a minimum of 6 seconds to closure (zero fuel flow). This translates to 236 spills in fixed land facilities. Given this reality we are lucky not to have more catastrophic results as at the AGE load rack.

More information on the subject matter:

San Antonio Express News Report Click here

OSHA Report

Standard Cited: 5A0001 OSH Act General Duty Paragraph

Violation Items

Nr: 314299793 Citation: 01001 Issuance: 10/29/2010 ReportingID: 0625500

Viol Type: Serious NrInstances: 1 Contest Date: 11/15/2010 Abatement Date: 11/24/2010 Nr Exposed: 9 Final Order: Initial Penalty: 4200.00 REC: A Emphasis: Current Penalty: 4200.00 Gravity: 10 Haz Category: EXPLOSION

Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard: EXPLOSION

Section 5(a)(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970: The employer did not furnish employment and a place of employment which were free from recognized hazards that were causing or likely to cause death or serious physical harm to employees in that employees were exposed to the hazards of fire and explosion: a) Bay 4 of the AGE Refinery loading facility: On or about May 5, 2010, and times past and thereto, employees were exposed to fire and a series of explosions when a tank truck was overfilled with a flammable liquid. Among other methods, one feasible and acceptable abatement method to correct this hazard is to follow the operating requirements of NFPA 30- 2008 Chapter 28 section 11.1.7 for Loading and Unloading of Tank Vehicles which states: when bottom loading a tank vehicle, a positive means shall be provided for loading a predetermined quantity of liquid, together with a secondary automatic shutoff control to prevent overfilling.

San Antonio Refinary Explosion at Loading Rack operating under API RP1004

Evacuations ordered due to explosion and fire at South Side refinery

Could this horrific event been prevented if API RP1004 was followed? Was this facility using secondary shutoff controls? Did the driver overfill the truck and then used a bucket to remove fuel from the truck compartment effected? Was there a spill due to human error and/or mechanical valve failure? Could the SpillGuard's GuardDog TM systems prevented this?

These facilities operate under industry recommended practice... API RP1004. This practice recommends use of independent secondary shutoff controls. It is highly unlikely that this facility was using such controls.

How could this fire and ultimately the explosion start? The possibilities are as follows:

1. A driver overfilled a tanker compartment and attempted to remove enough fuel from the compartment to allow him to load fuel into the rest of the tanker. (Overfill probe becomes wet when you overfill.) When a driver off-loads fuel into a plastic five gallon bucket which allows static electricity to form creating the ignition source and ultimate fire.

2. There was a mechanical valve failure coupled with human error leading to a spill followed by an ignition source.

3. Spill followed by a truck driving into the facility... This truck sucked in vapor causing a runaway engine; providing the ignition source.

For solutions check www.sgtinc.com

Posted using ShareThis

http://www.ksat.com/news/23491994/detail.html/

http://www.ksat.com/video/23491327/

================================================
Truck explodes at San Antonio refinery
By PETER HOLLEY and MICHELLE MONDO SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS
May 5, 2010, 3:10PM


John Davenport Express-News
Cindy Campbell, the controller at AGE Refining Inc., confirmed that a truck caught fire while at a loading dock at the plant at Southeast Military Drive and South Presa Street.

SAN ANTONIO — Firefighters are trying to control a two-alarm blaze raging at a fuel refinery on the city’s south side where a tanker truck exploded at a loading dock, injuring at least two workers and forcing widespread evacuations.
A black plume of smoke was visible 40 miles away as firefighters went door-to-door urging residents to stay at least one mile from the fire, which threatens to ignite nearby fuel supplies.
“We’re trying to pull everything back until we have a better idea what’s going on,” Fire Chief Charles Hood said Wednesday afternoon.
“Our main concern is not the fire but the materials of combustion. It’s a very dynamic situation and we’re still trying to get our arms around it,” the chief said.
He added: “A larger explosion could basically kill a bunch of people that are close by.”
Firefighters were weighing options on how to control the blaze, which was still raging two hours later. Hood said the 100 firefighters at the scene mainly were trying to keep nearby combustible materials from igniting.
Cindy Campbell, the controller at AGE Refining Inc., said a truck caught fire while at a loading dock at their plant at Southeast Military Drive and South Presa Street.
The company, which serves the U.S. Air Force, handles jet fuel and diesel, Campbell said. The facility is the city’s only refinery.
The fire department asked police keep people at least one mile away from the site. Evacuations included buildings at Brooks City-Base and two Center for Health Care Services facilities, said an employee, who added that patients inside the clinics were taken to their homes. The clinics are located at 5802 South Presa Street at Story Lane, north of the fire. It was not immediately clear how many patients were inside the clinics when they were evacuated.
The fire also affected plane and bus travel in the area, according to officials.
Bus routes in the one-mile radius had to be redirected, said Andy Scheidt, public information coordinator for VIA. Scheidt said three VIA supervisors had five buses at the Emergency Operations Center.
“We’re doing the best we can to keep the buses moving,” Scheidt said.
And while nearby Stinson Municipal Airport remains open, flights in and out of the general aviation facility have been stopped, said spokeswoman Nora Castro.
“Because of the smoke, officials have issued a 2-mile flight restriction surrounding the refinery fire,” she said.
About 350 planes use the airport daily, Castro said.
No flights at San Antonio International Airport have been affected by the fire.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality dispatched a team to the site to help the city’s hazardous materials team, which is taking the lead on the fire. The responders’ main concern is potential harm from fine particulate matter, which can be a lung irritant, and potentially hazardous hydrocarbons which are associated with any petroleum fuel fire.
Staff writers Eva Ruth Moravec, Vianna Davila and Vicki Vaughan contributed to this report.

Risk of catastrophic explosion is very real

Shutoff valve report: 'Risk of catastrophic explosion is very real'

by Dave Fehling / KHOU.com

Posted on May 5, 2010 at 2:40 PM

Updated Wednesday, May 5 at 5:32 PM

Related:

• Refinery burns all afternoon after big explosion; two hurt

As the search for answers about the cause of the San Antonio refinery fire begins, one focus may become the shutoff valves used during fueling operations.

In this report filed in April 2009, the dangers of diesel fueling without safety shutoff valves were examined:

Ask any tanker driver and they'll tell you the risk of a catastrophic explosion is very real.

At a terminal in Pasadena, when they're loading thousands of gallons of gasoline, drivers say keeping the engines turned off is one rule that is unbreakable.

"We're not allowed to keep it running," said one driver.

The engines must be turned off because explosions can happen when the engine is running.

In Brazoria County in 2003, Texas City in 2005, Tacoma, Washington in 2007 and in Oklahoma last summer, diesel truck engines were suspected of running out of control and triggering explosions.

At first, it sounds bizarre. How could a diesel engine start revving out of control with no way to stop it?

Well, experts say that in case after case, there was nothing wrong with those engines. It was what was in the air.

"Engine's running and there's some sort of release, flammable gas, that engine has the potential to pull that gas into the air intake," said B.T. Steadman with Vacuum Truck Rentals.

In Deer Park, B.T. Steadman's company owns trucks that are used to haul chemical waste. He said his company keeps 120 trucks at that location.

The danger, as seen in a video from Washington state, is that if an explosive vapor escapes from the truck's cargo or a tank nearby, the diesel engine, often left running to operate pumps, can start pulling the vapor into its air intake, causing the engine to run faster and faster.

Fehling: "Why doesn't the driver just turn the key off?"

Steadman: "In a diesel engine, turning the key off won't shut it off." Fehling: "Turning the key off won't shut then engine off?"

Steadman: "Not in a diesel engine."

Steadman says that diesel engines use compression, not spark plugs to ignite fuel, so the only way to stop a runaway engine is to shutoff the vapors getting sucked into its air intake.

On most trucks, there's no way to do that, but it can be done using a safety valve made right here in Houston, said Jogen Bhalla.

"It shuts down the air to the engine," said Bhalla.

An international company called AMOT makes the valve that cuts off the air and kills the engine if the engine revs beyond a safe limit.

Fehling: "Your Company has been making this product for a number of years?"

Bhalla: "Twenty-five plus."

The valves are reportedly required in Europe and Canada.

But even after three deaths in Brazoria County, 15 at BP and still others around the nation, the U-S has no requirement for the safety shut-off valves.

BP wouldn't answer questions about this, but some companies, like Steadman's, are taking action.

He said this company is putting the valves on 200 of his trucks at a cost of a couple thousand dollars each.

Meantime, the United Steelworkers Union (USW) is urging government regulators to make the safety valves mandatory saying if they save one life, they'd be worth it.

Is Fuel Spill Prevention a Reality at Bottom Loading Tanker Terminals?

Storage & Terminaling - API RP1004

ALTHOUGH bottom loading tank trailers provide a faster loading in a safer vapor-rich environment, the procedure presents some problems because technology improvements enable pumps to move more product at a faster rate. If preventive equipment does not shut down the loading system in time, an overflow can occur.

http://bulktransporter.com/mag/transportation_storage_terminalingilta_conference/index.html