Maintenance accidents of operating equipment
Thread Content
Seeing so many accidents that have happened in oil refining, I can’t help but want to share my own experiences as well! Friends from Sichuan, share and learn from each other! At 3 p.m. in 2003, due to low flow rate at the compressor inlet, it was later determined that there was a problem with the gate valve at the inlet. Without shutting down the system, the workshop ordered pressure to be released in order to repair the valve; as the valve cover was opened, severe gas leakage occurred. When attempts were made to tighten the bolts, a loud explosion took place, resulting in one death and three injuries among the workers on site. They are all my dear brothers; it’s truly heartbreaking! Private factories prioritize profits over safety, causing serious harm; this is due to closed factory buildings with high gas concentrations as well as improper maintenance work. At 2 a.m. in 1996, a loud explosion woke everyone up; the pipeline where the H223 compressor was located had exploded and caught fire, leaving a chaotic scene. Panicked people ran around everywhere, and glass shards were scattered throughout the area. An investigation revealed that the high purity of the oxygen caused weak points in the main pipe to burst, with steel fragments breaking through the walls and injuring three people seriously and causing one person to suffer burns. Fortunately, the experienced operators quickly took action by shutting down the equipment and isolating the system, preventing a more serious accident from occurring. Let this serve as a lesson! This post was last edited by pqj527 on 2009-2-26 07:43]
Things are fine in our factory – there are no fire permits, no maintenance work orders, nor any analysis or test results. The maintenance technicians generally don’t start working until such things are in place. It’s good like this; safety comes first, after all :)
Safety first; no production if it is not safe. The lesson is painful.
I work at a medium-sized state-owned enterprise; after the New Year, I was transferred to a branch of the company that is jointly operated with people from Guangdong. There, one person can handle tasks such as blacksmithing, plumbing, gas welding, electric welding, as well as lifting – it’s like being an all-rounder. I have to issue all the invoices myself. When I first arrived, I couldn’t believe it.
Therefore, one must be extra careful when working with equipment in a chemical plant. For example: even if it has been confirmed that the system is depressurized, one still needs to check whether there is any pressure remaining in the system when removing the flanges. Do not loosen or remove each bolt one by one; instead, keep one or two bolts tight, loosen the others only without removing them, and finally loosen those last one or two bolts slowly to prevent the release of process media ； For another example, even if a power outage request has been submitted and the electrical department confirms that the power has been cut off, it is still necessary to try turning the equipment on manually upon arrival at the site to verify whether the power is indeed off ； When working in flammable and explosive areas, no matter how favorable the conditions on site may be, it is necessary to use explosion-proof tools whenever possible, even if they are not very convenient to use ； If you are not the person directly operating the crane or giving commands, stay back. I have seen with my own eyes a 40-ton crane trying to lift a heat exchanger weighing around 2.5 tons to a height of 9 meters; the wire rope broke, and the heat exchanger crashed heavily to the ground! Fortunately, no one was hurt. It is essential to have a sense of self-protection; after all, one only has one life, and once something goes wrong, it’s too late!
The chemical industry is inherently a high-risk sector, and those working with equipment must be even more careful. All necessary procedures and documents must be in order during operations, and signing procedures as well as a supervision system must be followed. Activities such as working at heights, performing hot work, working inside containers, and turning power on or off must all be carried out in accordance with relevant standards. It’s better to hear insults than cries. A lesson in blood! ! ! ! !!
Here’s another question: When replacing a piston in a 6M50 engine, the maintenance team worked in two groups – one group removed the rod head while the other removed the valve. Due to excessive carbon buildup on the valves, the removal process was slow. Once all the bolts connecting the rod head were removed, it was necessary to wait until the valves were taken out before pulling the piston out. To remove the valves, a hammer was used to strike the valve housing, generating sparks; as a result, the piston shot out of the cylinder, causing three people to die on the spot and two others to suffer serious injuries. It’s tragic, as they were all experienced workers with many years of experience; one of them even had a son who had been married just two days earlier.
Safety is no trivial matter; small details should not be overlooked. If one follows rules and regulations in everything they do and adheres to safety protocols, rather than relying solely on old experiences and habits while ignoring minor details, then even if nothing goes wrong once or twice, an accident will eventually occur. The problems of \"low, old, bad\" (low standards, **illnesses, bad habits\") should be corrected.