Delete

During the major maintenance in 2010, spontaneous combustion of hydrogen sulfide occurred in one of the distillation columns of the unit. Take a seat on the sofa; I’ll share more details tomorrow!

It seems that there are some pipelines through which air cannot pass

The iron sulfide removed from the heating furnace during shutdown for maintenance operations naturally…

That guy who got burned by sulfuric acid is really pitiful!

I’m still lying in the hospital; my life is ruined. Just staying alive is already a form of perseverance. I used to be very handsome, and now I’m not even as handsome as I used to be

Let me tell you about one I encountered. There were no fires or explosions, but it was still very dangerous. In a reactor at a petrochemical plant, the reaction feed consists of raw material A and 200 tons of compressed air per hour. The oxygen concentration at the top of the reactor needs to be strictly controlled, usually around 3.5%. On that occasion, it suddenly rose to 5%, and it continued to increase. Although there were emergency shutdown mechanisms in place, an explosion could still occur if precautions were not taken; the force of such an explosion would be unimaginable. The operator immediately reported to the shift leader and reduced the air feed, but this was far from enough; once the shift leader arrived, he quickly increased the feed for A manually, and only then did the oxygen concentration drop. The crisis was resolved, and a shutdown was avoided; a single shutdown would result in losses of over ten million. Therefore, the role of the team leader is indeed very important. The few minutes before an accident occurs are the best time to take action; if there is an excellent team leader who can respond promptly and correctly, that contribution cannot be compensated for by any number of leaders that come later. After seeing that accident with your distillation tower, if it hadn’t been for the team leader’s proper response, that facility would likely have been ruined. I’d like to ask in more detail about your handling of distillation towers. Distillation towers are quite common, but I don’t know much about accident handling. Apart from operating from the control room, supplying nitrogen under positive pressure, and using outdoor fire water to cool down the area, how do you handle the site of the fire? What caused the fire? Was it high tower pressure, material leakage and spraying, or static electricity?

Regarding leaks and fires in distillation towers, I only know that they can be caused naturally, by lightning strikes, or by static electricity; I’ve heard of cases caused by static electricity but have never experienced one myself

The larger the facility, the greater the role of frontline supervisors (chief operators, team leaders, technicians, workshop managers), as quick decisions must be made in the event of an accident, and strong experience in adapting to situations is essential. Yet, it is often people from this group who are held accountable after accidents, which severely undermines their motivation to work over time; in severe cases, this leads to staff turnover and creates even greater risks.