Fire broke out due to a leak from the compressor’s cooling radiator
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Recently, our company’s compressor’s fifth-stage cooling coil experienced a leak, which led to a fire. Thanks to prompt and decisive action, no serious consequences occurred. The main causes were inadequate corrosion protection, insufficient inspections, system overpressure, and pitting in the pipes. Although the impact is not significant, the company attaches great importance to it at all levels, and the penalties are severe; in particular, pressure vessel supervisors are fined 500 yuan, have their monthly bonus deducted, and lose their pressure vessel allowance for half a year. However, there is quite a lot of discussion within the company regarding this incident – the fire that broke out in the compressor’s cooling radiator. It’s one thing to hold the managers accountable, but it seems excessive to punish the supervisors in charge of compressor management so severely. After all, the compressor’s cooling radiator does not fall under the category of pressure vessels or pressure pipelines. I’ve checked some information on this topic, and it makes sense. Please have the sea friends discuss the nature of the compressor’s heat sink, and also take precautions in the process.
Regarding what the original poster mentioned, dealing with things after they happen is merely a management tactic; what’s important is how to prevent such accidents from occurring again. There are two aspects to going beyond mere prevention: one is to improve the management of the quality of circulating cooling water in order to prevent corrosion of cooling equipment and pipelines ； Second, it is necessary to strengthen the monitoring and testing of corrosion in equipment and pipelines, so as to have a clear understanding of their corrosion status and to enable planned maintenance or replacement.
What is the form of the compressor’s heat sink? Is it the type with a jacket, cooled by forced water from the outside? If it’s neither a pressure vessel nor a pressure pipeline, then what is it? Moreover, in the fifth stage of a compressor, the pressure is usually above 100 kilograms. Therefore, it should be classified as a pressure vessel, and it was not wrong for the supervisor in charge of pressure vessels to conduct an inspection – safety is no trivial matter; by the time something goes wrong, it will be too late to regret it.
The compressor’s cooling fin structure is of the spray type. It has been in use for just over 4 years, and preventive measures have not been adequate up to now. Our company has established new systems for regular inspections and testing; we believe these measures will help to prevent such accidents effectively.
The compressor cooling coil should be considered a pressure pipeline; I’m not sure which department in your company is responsible for managing pressure pipelines If it falls under the jurisdiction of pressure vessel supervisors, then evaluating those supervisors is justified; as for how much to evaluate them, that is a matter for your company’s internal decision-making.