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Accident # | 148110 |
State Police # | 13-01595 |
Accident Date | 2013-04-14 |
Report Date | 2013-04-19 |
Follow-up Date | 2013-06-14 |
Follow-up: | Yes |
Pollutant | Duration | Point Source | Greenhouse Gas | Criteria Pollutant | Ozone forming chemical | Amount of Release |
Sulfur Dioxide | 11h 40m | Flares 1, 2, and 4 | NO | YES | NO | 47,536.0 pounds |
Hydrogen Sulfide | 11h 40m | Flares 1, 2, and 4 | NO | NO | NO | 144.0 pounds |
NOx | 11h 40m | Flares 1, 2, and 4 | NO | NO | YES | 662.0 pounds |
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) | 11h 40m | Flares 1, 2, and 4 | NO | NO | YES | 27.0 pounds |
Carbon Monoxide | 11h 40m | Flares 1, 2, and 4 | NO | YES | NO | 3.0 pounds |
Particulate Matter 10 | 11h 40m | Flares 1, 2, and 4 | NO | YES | NO | 22.0 pounds |
Accident Classified As: Reportable Quantity
On April 14, 2013, at approximately 07:Sl, the Coker WGC malfunctioned, resulting in a unit shutdown and a release to the flare of approximately 47,S36 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 144 pounds of hydrogen sulfide. The WGC tripped offline and could not be restarted due to a malfunction of the compression thrust bearing. Monitoring of the compression thrust data did not indicate prior degradation of the bearing. The bearing is believed to have failed from steam condensation due to a boiler malfunction approximately 2S minutes before the WGC tripped. The boiler malfunction caused the steam temperature to drop to the saturation point. Additionally, there was missing and damaged insulation found along the steam header upstream of the WGC. The missing insulation along with the heavy rain that was in the area during the time of the incident could have contributed to the drop in steam temperature to the saturation point. Emissions were minimized by reducing the crude rate by approximately SO percent and by shutting down the delayed coker unit.
This incident was not reasonably preventable because the drop in steam temperature was likely caused from an unexpected boiler trip and there was no indication of degradation to the thrust bearing prior to the WGC malfunction.
Emissions were minimized by reducing the crude rate by approximately 50% and by shutting down the delayed coker unit. Follow up report details procedures or measures which have or will be adopted to prevent recurrence: 1. Communicate this incident to all affected personnel 2. Replace missing or damaged insulation on the steam header 3. Evaluate Mud Legs for performance and adequacy 4. Evaluate the need for an inline separator on the 650-lb steam to the WGC 5. Perform an infrared (IR) camera scan of the 650-lb steam header
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