【Mistakes We Made Over the Years】Burns from Sampling Water from the 008 Fractionation Tower

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This post was last edited by “Strive to Live Each Day Well” on May 8, 2017, at 15:23. Once bitten by a snake, one fears ropes for ten years! Now, when I go to conduct inspections inside the plant’s facilities and see the drain pipes of the towers, I can’t help but think of that accident from time to time; it gives me chills! I still remember it was late spring four years ago, when the entire factory stopped operations for maintenance. I was working in the external operation position for distillation in the coking plant; after the plant was shut down for replacement, the distillation tower needed to have its contents discharged after being subjected to a boiling process. Early in the morning, not long after we started working, the workshop assigned us, those on the distillation shift, to assist with sample collection for testing. As usual, the water can be discharged only after the sample analysis shows it is satisfactory; however, once the laboratory staff arrived, it proved a bit difficult to open the bottom drain of the tower, so all three of us field operators stepped in to help. There are two gate valves at the drain outlet; the one above was fully open, while the one below was opened a little. Yet no water came out. It was opened a bit more, but still no water flowed. It was clear that there must be some blockage, so we used an F-wrench to strike the valve body. Suddenly, the drain became unobstructed, and hot water at over 100 degrees rushed out under high pressure, splashing onto the concrete floor before bouncing back up more than 10 meters in the air. Everyone was stunned at that moment; all they could remember was being surrounded by steam, with nothing visible in the white haze. I don’t remember how I managed to get out of there. There was some black ash stuck on my face; it felt very hot, so I immediately washed my face. It was just a little red, nothing serious, but one of my colleagues wasn’t so lucky – their face was burned and they had to be taken away. I still often recall those terrible events, constantly reminding myself that \"safety first, follow procedures\"!