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Accident # | 155267 |
State Police # | 14-01665 |
Accident Date | 2014-04-15 |
Report Date | 2014-04-22 |
Follow-up Date | 2014-06-12 |
Follow-up: | Yes |
Pollutant | Duration | Point Source | Greenhouse Gas | Criteria Pollutant | Ozone forming chemical | Amount of Release |
Highly Reactive Volatile Organic Compounds (HRVOCs) | 9h 12m | OL5 Unit RV | NO | NO | NO | 100.2 pounds |
Carbon Monoxide | 9h 12m | OL5 Unit RV | NO | YES | NO | 1,419.0 pounds |
NOx | 9h 12m | OL5 Unit RV | NO | NO | YES | 261.0 pounds |
Particulate Matter | 9h 12m | OL5 Unit RV | NO | YES | NO | 49.0 pounds |
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) | 9h 12m | OL5 Unit RV | NO | NO | YES | 100.2 pounds |
Accident Classified As: Reportable Quantity
On 4/15/14, Shell Chemical's OL5 Unit flared process gas at the OL5 Ground Flare due to a relief valve (RV) on the ethylene product heater unexpectedly lifting. The pressure transmitters and gauges throughout the ethylene product system did not indicate any abnormal unit operation. It was determined that the relief valve malfunctioned by lifting prematurely.
The lifting of the malfunctioned RV was unexpected.
To minimize additional unit upsets and impacts, operations personnel verified the readings from the pressure transmitters and gauges throughout the ethylene product system. Operations personnel safely removed the malfunctioning RV from services and subsequently replaced it. The malfunctioning RV was replaced on 4/22/14. Note that some reporting inconsistencies should lead to questions about the actual amounts released. For example, the refinery report suggests that total VOCs and HRVOCs are the same in the reporting documents. Further, some calculation errors seem apparent, as seen in the last row of table V.5; researcher asserts that the value in the last cell should be 0.23 rather than 100.23.
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