@@GageDrums absolutely, safety should be 2nd or 1st priority when designing industrial "guts" as i like to call them, even if it means decreasing output and profit, because a little profit is better than no profit, especially if it means that you won't be losing money from lawsuits because your poor design resulted in injury and/or loss of life.
Well, the variant is supposed to be a safe plan to deal with something odd. Thing is, you've always got to remember if you're using one, you're not in charted territory. Opening up the pipe was fine, but when they found something that wasn't supposed to be there (because the steam is on the hydrocarbon side not the air side), it's time to ask why?
This is amazing. I have zero knowledge in this industry, but the narration and accompanying visuals allowed me to under stand what happened, why it happened, how it happened and what could have been done instead. Subscribed
@@MXedos It always happens in high production plants. Instead of losing little profit and saving equipment, they just keep it going until failure happens and now they've lost equipment and profit, sometimes even lives.
@@MXedos Depends on the pressure parameters in other parts of the plant and the shut down procedures and safety valve settings that might have saved the situation but also might have not. You need to go deeper into the shutdown procedures and settings to get that information. It might have been possible to find the leaking heat exchanger earlier by some some sensors in the water side or by finding changes in distillation results in laboratory - who knows - you just need more knowledge of the details. Actually they plan maintenance shutdowns to inspect all the parts and should have found the problem with the valve for the catalyst balls earlier. Sometimes there are factors you cant foresee. I have seen holes in pipelines lying in the desert 5m deep. That place the water table was only 3 meters deep and the coating of the pipe had a damage - maybe from long time ago. Another pipeline started to show one leak after another since one company pumped frequently salty water in because they were stupid, they put in corrosion inhibitor for H2S corrosion but nothing in their water phase at the desalters. When the pipeline was out of operation for some weeks the water collecting in some low sacks eat through the wall. When starting again it was a sieve.
I live just a few blocks away from this refinery, and can visually see their stacks from our street. You wouldn't believe how many times things go sideways and you don't hear about it or find out weeks or months after. They have an emergency alarm system they test on the first Wednesday of every month, and not ONCE during my 30 years living here, when things went wrong did that alarm ever sound. Scariest day ever was when the pacific grid shut down and the entire refinery was pouring off black smoke and every one of their burnoff stacks were in full bloom. One night they were burning off a LOT from their largest stack, a flume that had to be at least 100 ft high, and I FELT the heat from it at what I estimate at about a quarter mile away.
I can't believe the zoning in some places. Where I live we're fortunate to have manufacturing, mining, and drilling... but not a couple blocks from the schoolyard. If you look at the most costly/tragic accidents, I think some moderate separation is worth it.
@@tieck4408 Just watched a video on the San Bernadino train wreck of 1989. They built homes abutting a curve in a track at the end of the worlds most dangerous downhill run, and built atop a major gas line to boot. Makes you wonder how the human brain truly works sometimes.
My wife is a drafter that works for a steel fabrication company. The last couple years she’s been drawing regenerators. Been up to the shop a few times to see them come together. They’re massive objects. Super neat.
I was just in in a court is Washington near the Cherry Point Refinery and there's a huge set of Steel stacks just off the highway leaving there that I guess are destined to be installed at the refinery at some point in the future. I don't know how they manufacture pieces of metal that large they must be about 12 ft in diameter and over 100 ft long
When they broke open the flange to install the blind, the workers were met with flowing steam. This should tell them that the catalyst seal was not intact and that hydrocarbons from the distillation train could flow back. They probably figured this out but assumed that the hydrocarbon side was completely purged of flammable materials so they lowered the steam in an attempt to install the blind. The bad luck of having a leaking heat exchanger blew away all the assumptions. This is how accidents happen.
No hes right this is how accidents happen. They used a shit variance that didnt allow for zero energy and proper isolation in order to save time and money. You can talk all you want about systems but this is exactly why you blind and isolate and verify zero energy. I never work inside of any vessel unless its blinded at the first flange and every flange off the vessel and i only install those blinds after a thorough loto and proven zero energy is in place. Even after that precautions should be taken. Its so easy to miss these things and thats why you need qualified people working on your equipment and redundant checks are put in place. Ive seen people mistake orfice plates for blinds or break open the wrong side of a closed valve because they didnt double check or verify. That was a 2012 variance and should have been scrapped and a newer better procedure developed. Instead they cheaped out and boom. RIP.
Over here in NZ, we have a saying "assumptions are the root of all fuck up's" Personally, I think that forward thinking/thinking outside the box, coupled with not being afraid to speak up, is a trait that is seen less and less as the years go on.
why didnt they shut off the steam, lock out the line then put the blind in? if it was leaking by a valve they should of shut off the steam as soon as they knew that valve was leaking by and blinded the slide valve before they blinded the flange then turned the steam back on. if they couldnt shut the steam off then their should of been another valve where that flange was, they could of just locked out a valve and kept the steam on. poor engineering and company negligence caused this.
this shit happens so often at this refinery, that they have made every school in torrance practice shelter in place for when the refinery explodes again.
@Bob Watters no but having a run down, crappy refinery that uses chemical compounds like MHF that have been phased out literally everywhere else could. This refinery is a menace to the city. Cope.
I used to build scaffold and I've been in every bit of that system. It's fascinating to see all these things firsthand. The animation brings it all together. Steel mills are also amazing
Was in my senior year of high school at west when this happened. Woke up to what I thought was a earthquake and thought nothing of it. Got in my car and drove outside to see yellow ash everywhere in the city
Another quality USCSB production that delivers critical safety data that will ultimately preserve lives. This type of exacting work is a clear indication of a commitment to leadership and higher standards. As such, The USCSB mandate needs to be maintained and supported by the current administration. To terminate this program would be a huge step backward. Greetings from Canada
Cheers... I've been studying reports from the USCSB for almost 15 years. I can't tell you how many valuable pieces of information I've learned from their publications. It is imperative that this type of quality work continues.
I fully agree. The animation is excellent - very clear and logically presented. Even non technical people should be able to understand what happened to cause the explosion. The CSB investigation report into this explosion (and earlier explosion in 2012 at Chevron refinery) has highlighted the need for improved US and federal (California) regulations to enhance process safety management. I am not American and do not live in USA but believe that it would be a disgrace if the CSB is disbanded by the US administration!
I just retired from working in a chemical plant for 38 years and worked in a coal fired coal plant before that for 2 more years. There are two videos I just watched where an explosion was caused by the slide gates failing thus causing the catalyst shield to lose it's level via the leakage through the damaged slide gates. if there was an alarm on the catalyst level in each of these instances it could have sounded when the catalyst level in the vessel got to too low of a level warning the operators that the catalyst was escaping through the slide gate. Also having pressure transmitters on the hydrocarbon cracker and one on the vessel the steam was going into would allow the operators to see if the steam pressure was higher than the process pressure and keeping a seal on backflow of the hydro carbons. The slide gates needed to also be on a regular checkup and replacement schedule due to them failing in both these incidents. Seems like this type stuff was overlooked or the operators ignored certain alarms.
We use differential pressure indicators across the slide valves to monitor this. The important thing to watch is the differential pressure between the Regenerator and reactor. The regenerator needs to be a few psi higher than the reactor to prevent reversal
Is it too expensive to have a backup valve so that if the first set of valves fail due to some reason, that such a safety critical separation can then be maintained by a second set of valves that until that point should remain completely new (though a little run-in).
This is quality stuff. I'm working as a control room Operator on the Crude distillation unit and I've learned a ton of useful information from reports like these. It should be industry standard to release a animations for any major accident, as it can prevent those happening again in the future.
@@greg3930 They have rounds that they have to go on to inspect equipment during their shift. If there's an incident then they retreat to their armored control rooms (and I mean literally armored).
@@greg3930 If a fire is that out of control there's almost nothing you can do. My old boss had advice for when there is a fire at a chemical plant: RUN.
Thanks, I am a chemical engineer with 40 years experience in the industry, I found this video very informative, and should be compulsory viewing for all plant managers/maintenance managers, and particularly maintenance contractors who usually have less knowledge of the process.
I love these. I wish there was a video like this explaining details on every major piece of equipment in a refinery and how these processes work (or are supposed to work, rather). I find this stuff fascinating. I only survived 2 semesters of chem in college before switching to Computer Science, so most of the hard chemistry goes over my head.
Superb animation and narration, as always, from the USCSB. These investigations no doubt help save lives. Huge improvement in animation quality in this one.
Help save lives? What do you mean there were rules and regulations in place just Exon ignored them. Where is the commentary on maintenance records and reconstruction
+Liquid Audio --> "...help save lives." Actually they don't because the CSB has no authority to mandate policy changes for companies. They can only make recommendations which can freely be ignored by the American Petroleum Institute or OSHA. Which is why accidents like this keep happening. If you watch a number of CSB videos you'll notice a definite trend of the same mistakes being made over and over again.
I worked in a chemical facility making automotive paint. Every step of every task was dissected, documented, and theoretically, even with an an equipment failure, a safety issue should never arise. But employees were pressured, and rewarded for, production. Employees who took dangerous shortcuts completed tasks quicker, and their speed soon became the standard. Production trump's safety every time. We had enough solvents in dozens of 10,000 gallon tanks to straighten the river bend we were located on. Even though we lived safety, and management preached it religeously, they turned a blind eye to short cuts employees are pressured to make, until something goes wrong.
If Americsn lawsuits stamped on industrial negligence instead of 'malpractice' liability, our healthcare would be cheaper on top of its high quality. We would be undisputed best in the world.
Then massive costs are invited rebuilding the facility and compensate for the injury or deaths,,, Not a good business plan long term. I worked on boats, used Sterling paints and they had wicked solvents. Plus the fiberglass resins,, One day some guy wanders in my space to watch my spray out a hill cigarette hanging out his mouth My God!
i did industrial construction work there in the 80's as an iron worker / crane operator , i worked at many L.A. refineries but we called that one in particular "the bomb factory"
You are asking an intelligent question, but I doubt there is an intelligent answer. It would be logical that, as an added safeguard, the ESP should be shutdown, isolated, and locked out to prevent restarting during safe/park mode but I am willing to assume that such a system would've been to much trouble (too much money spent) to add redundant safeguards. "That'll do and lets hope for the best" sorta mentality that major companies have, or so it seems to me. Risk reduction is very expensive and companies have mandates to only increase productivity and efficiency, and thereby gain more profits. Increasing profits by slacking and going cheap on safety systems, apparently, is an acceptable risk in the CFO's cost/benefit calculations. After all, as far as corporate is concerned, nobody they (in-charge executives/corporate) care about is at risk, so what?
Robert Mintun The animation gives the impression that the flue-gas system (FGS) is dedicated solely to the run-off gasses from the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit; this might not be the case, as flue-gas from other areas of the plant might be treated there as well. What this means is that shutting down the FGS doesn't just stop the FCC, but also other areas of the refinery. Shutting things down means they're no longer making money, but instead costs money. You can probably figure out how the guys up top feel about that.
That's a good point, the ESB is electrical based, so why not shut it down, it wouldn't seem like it's too difficult to restart it, at least comparing with the other steps.
I was caught off guard by this too. Really seemed to be missing a few key pieces like this that a very common to other videos. The ending was also very abrupt.
CIDADE SEMPRE LANCHONETE GANHAR MUITO DINHEIRO LANCHONETE VENDAS DE LANCHONETE GANHAR MUITO DINHEIRO LANCHONETE DOAR GOOGLE LAURENISE PEREIRA DE LIMA SOU EU.
The wonders of TH-cam have brought me to your channel and I'm loving the videos! The animation, narration and simple way of explaining it all makes it fascinating for someone with zero industry experience
I love the little sound effects they add for the coking of the catalyst molecules at 1:15. They did this in a few other animations I have seen from CSB too :)
Great visuals! The slide valves on the Cat Unit I worked on were never tight shut off, big gate valves were the true isolation points. A flow reversal might have been prevented by tripping the air blower and slumping the catalyst bed, feed would also be tripped and diverted. Steam would be introduced to keep the catalyst bed fluidized and positive pressure to keep the fractionator from reverse flow. We had a CO dumpstack that prevents sending hydrocarbon saturated catalyst to the precipatators and the CO Furnaces. The Benicia Refinery has an Exxon designed FCCU now owned by Valero Energy. Variants to standard operating guides are a form of risk management. Most times they worked, but every now and then they would bite you.
Very interesting insight into this, love the animations, but also love the fact that they added decay/rust and old leaks onto the pipe works and apparatus. Nice touch man.
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Nitro burning fuel dragsters explode off the line at speeds up to 300 mph. Big Daddy Don Garlits, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, and Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney push it to the limit!
Thank you for the explanation. My father and brothers have worked in such units as maintenance and as an inspector. I chose not to enter that field as growing up along the Houston Ship Channel I felt many refinery explosions. The Phillips 66 explosion being the biggest shock. I was about 8 miles away working on a commercial, 8 lane, swimming pool. The water in the pool jumped staight up two feet out of the pool then came crashing down. Explosions would rock our house, but that was a doosy.
Excellent video analysis and explanation. I worked in a refinery for over 10 years in an office function and saw two major incidents. In a large refinery or chem plant, there are literally tens of 1000s of mechanical and electrical operations functions that must work correctly every minute 24x7, or someone or many could die. The work crews earned their money daily. As a result, it turned me into a safety nerd in my private life.
2:12 " It is critical that the flammable hydrocarbons in the reactor do not flow into the air side of the FCC Unit, as this could create an explosive atmosphere." ...foreshadowing
These videos are truly Amazing. Not only do they explain the accident in a easy to understand format. But they also explain the complex and hidden nature of these refineries and how they work. I give this video a A+. Clear narration by a human person, machinery described in layman's terms, straight to the point accident detail, and superior animation. I love these videos!
CSB videos are used for Process Safety training across the country. As a power plant worker, I have seen my share of these videos which when broken down show even though well thought out procedures exist in every industry, its never just one thing that cause these catastrophes. That's why we constantly train on PHA (process hazard analysis) & LOPA (layers of protection) to mitigate these accidents
These videos have always been a great source of information and the quality of them has improved year after year. Unfortunately this steady improvement is because accidents still happen, often because of complacency and cost cutting. Industry has the technology and tools to improve safety, but that means reduced profits. My favourite quote of the late safety expert Trevor Kletz has always been "If you think safety is expensive, try an accident." Corporations need to pay more attention to maintenance and safety. Thanks CSB for your continued service and dedication in trying to make industry safer.
Thank you for making this video! I knew absolutely nothing about what you’re talking about but was able to follow along and get a decent understanding.
My grandma from Dad's side lived across from rampart hospital depicted on Emergency, the adam-12 conjoined twin drama back in early to mid 70's where it actually lived? Torrance, California! Passed that refinery every week. Refinery on the left, Goodyear blimp on the right.
Me too.... some of the more hazardous ones with truly evil chemicals make me shudder as an ex-firefighter... sure, we have the old Tellibubbie hazmat suits, but as a retained station.... scary shit! That said, on my patch, the most notable hazards were a few silos, a plastics factory (which did actually have an extremely serious fire) and a single lift.
On the surface I would think that would be normal operating conditions for a refinery based upon the complex nature of the systems and the seemingly dangerous process to refine crude oil.... But, other refineries do the same thing without constantly blowing up. It's pretty obvious lack of maintenance plays a huge role in these situations. The well maintained refineries run and take time to shut down for maintenance and thorough inspection, and the others blow up and go back online after repairing what blew up till next time.
worked at a fccu. there was a level indicator between reactor and regenerator so you should see the level going down if the catalyst barrier cant be maintained
The fact that the maintenance supervisor stopped the operation is one of the reasons this wasn't deadly. good on him, you watch some of the csb videos and this isn't the case. the supervisor says "leaking gas alarms going off no we will stay and finish the work".
Cute! They know that even with all the treatments and alloy coatings they use in the pipework, vessels, and valves, corrosion and sediment build-up is going to still occur in just a matter of years, yet no one inspects, nor replaces anything until something goes critical or explodes...
Corporations serve their greedy shareholders. They have no real interest in public safety. Their insurance company pays off the damages and they go back to making money for shareholders ASAP. Insurance costs are tax deductable. Any fines, if given at all, are relatively small potatoes. Why should they worry?
- Oh, I hear you loud and clear: _"Whatever you decide to do, or how you go about doing it, remember this - DON'T STOP PRODUCTION! Do you know what that will cost the company otherwise - DO YOU?"_
Man, I worked in refineries most of my life and you've got to keep your equipment maintained, most important thing. This could have all been prevented by regular inspection and replacement of a simpe slide valve. This would probably be about 1 to 2 weeks of downtime for the plant but look at the results of what the prevention would be. Greedy Executives pocketing the money instead of reinvesting into plant maintenance I'll guarantee you that's the issue.
Living here in Torrance my whole life, it never surprised us when it exploded. I remember playing flag football, and watching a massive explosion coming from the refinery. That was in late 1987 or early 1988. From my parents house we would watch the flames as the firefighters battle the blaze.
As much fuel is put through that in six years, are you telling me they don’t change out parts on a yearly basis? That’s ridiculous, and asking for trouble!
Cost cut for sure. It's an old fight of departments: maintenance vs manager. Manager says that the time needed to do the maintenance compromises profit. Maintenance says that bad things could happen if stuff don't get fixed. Who you think is the boss?
The slide valves are massive. Just one can weigh several tons. They're welded into a huge pipe. It can take a week of 2 shifts to change one out. Millions of dollars and the entire unit will be shut down.
I work in the refineries. Installling that blind was something very critical . My family has been plugged up with the refinery industry. I had some folks there working . They said this was something indescribable.
It is truly astounding how the fossil fuel industry, with all their billions in profit, won't invest enough capital into MAINTAINING their facilities!!! So many of these videos deal with facilities that are so outdated and in such disrepair that the inevitable result is a preventable catastrophic event!
The facilities are good enough. If they were to "modernize" the place it would cost a lot of money, so they don't do it. The way the facility is designed is still good enough today. Im sure if they were to "modernize" there facility the company would still be okay, but there might be a small cut on company executive salaries, which im sure they will live, but they wont do it. Edit: the main reason why this happened was not because of the way the facility was designed. But of corporate greed: CEO and executives pushing managers and workers to work harder (e.g., me executive want my numbers higher), ignore facility maintenance (its cheaper but not safe, hence this event and video).
Top notch animation. Even I don't know anything about this industry, but this makes it understandable by speaking in simple language anyone can understand.
So, Let me get this straight, They attempted to linebreak on a unit that hadnt been shut down properly, not isolated correctly, and had live steam in? Plus failure to inspect/test valves that had been in service for 7 years? I would honestly expect better from Exxonmobil.
You would think that there would be valves between the FCC unit and the ESP that could be closed to prevent hydrocarbons from passing into the ESP. There seems to be at least about 200 feet of pipe between the two. The workers getting the alarms could be closing valves, cutting off any pathways from the FCC to the ESP.
I used to work here back in 2013. You walk in there and you hear how dangerous any job could be and each day that passes without incident you tend to let your guard down just a little over time. Then when something catastrophic happens and quickly humbles you inside
Excellent video description of the incident. I know next to nothing about the extraction and refining of fossil fuels so I learned a lot about refining just from this video. I find it amazing that humans have acquired the know how, and it's fascinating.
Never got to work directly on the cat unit controls but worked in the surrounding units . Was always curious bout the components this video really a good illustration.
Another example of the oil industry and not shutting down. As soon as the steam/catalyst became an issue, they should have fully shutdown the plant. ie: the precipitator, reactor & distillation column. Cost shouldn't be an issue.
Well guess the fuck what? They certainly had to shut down after part of the plant blew up. No one ever considers the cost of what is likely to go wrong if they DON'T shut down when shit starts going wrong.
If there was a way to shut off the line between the column and FCC reactor, this would not been necessary. I am quite surprised, that as it seemes, there was no valve, which would allow that
My thoughts exactly.....when the blind flange was attempted to be installed, it should have occurred to someone that the escaping steam "came from somewhere" unintended...the defective slide valve. Thinking only one more step ahead would have alerted someone that the catalyst barrier was then GONE !..... ding...ding.....red alert. Then there's this aspect.....why isn't there redudancy in a "CSS" (critical safety system) piping line up....why not 2 slide valves in series...and a monitoring system to assure catalyst exists where it should ? Component redundancy is too expensive to do everywhere, but there are areas where it should be done based on the safety-critical nature of the system response. This is a "single-point-of-failure" critical safety system that requires added attention such as redundancy.
Looks like regulations keep it from being shut down. There must be other systems fed into the esp, and shutting it down will release fine combustion ash and particulate into the air, which California has a law against. This was probably a retrofitted system to comply with that law, rather than having smaller units, or better isolation (or they didn't use the isolation on this unit!)
Ah yes, 2020, the year of re-watching USCSB videos on a binge. Anybody else yelling at the valve at 3:30? How could it let the hydrocarbons in, that's crazy! Come on valve, why you gotta be like that?
![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA W2D4 | Summer | โอกาสสุดท้าย ของสัปดาห์สอง](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aswciGrYovo/mqdefault.jpg)
My favorite quote for managers in the chemical process industry, "If you think safety is expensive, you should try an accident." - Trevor Kletz
I'm a safety guy.. I like this quote. I'm stealing it!
@@GageDrums absolutely, safety should be 2nd or 1st priority when designing industrial "guts" as i like to call them, even if it means decreasing output and profit, because a little profit is better than no profit, especially if it means that you won't be losing money from lawsuits because your poor design resulted in injury and/or loss of life.
there's a rule in aviation called the rule of corpses, it states "if it costs money nothing will be done until there is a body."
What if the cost is only dead workers and you can just plug some others in without missing a beat?
@@CIARUNSITE dead workers are still dead people Beater, you're still going to get sued.
I have no idea why this was recommended to me but that was interesting af
Ikr
Check out the BP explosion in Texas City, same channel. I work at a plant just like this, in Canada, these vids are very well done.
I'm in the industry... We watch them all then we all from others and not make the same mistakes
sameeee
Watch uscsb videos on combustible metal dust hazards. That will blow your mind. Excuse the pun.
“At the time of the explosion, the refinery was owned by Exxon-Mobil”. When the smoke cleared, a For Sale sign appeared on the entrance gate.
It was then owned by cheveron
@@g59soujia21 wrong .
@@cbt20003
Who owns it today?
We all call it the Mobil Refinery here.
@@brianmccarthy5557 incorrect, it’s owned by PBF Energy. I know because I use to work there.
"We've adopted a culture of safety. With variance."
Safety is my passion
"
forgot to close the quote
Alternative safety
Well, the variant is supposed to be a safe plan to deal with something odd. Thing is, you've always got to remember if you're using one, you're not in charted territory.
Opening up the pipe was fine, but when they found something that wasn't supposed to be there (because the steam is on the hydrocarbon side not the air side), it's time to ask why?
The variance is what should have allowed them to catch the problem they had with the slide valve. It didn't cause the explosion.
This is amazing. I have zero knowledge in this industry, but the narration and accompanying visuals allowed me to under stand what happened, why it happened, how it happened and what could have been done instead.
Subscribed
When they detected gas leak, they should have shut down the entire plant...
I'm another layperson, but I always understand the CSB videos. They are works of art.
@@MXedos It always happens in high production plants. Instead of losing little profit and saving equipment, they just keep it going until failure happens and now they've lost equipment and profit, sometimes even lives.
@@MXedos Depends on the pressure parameters in other parts of the plant and the shut down procedures and safety valve settings that might have saved the situation but also might have not. You need to go deeper into the shutdown procedures and settings to get that information. It might have been possible to find the leaking heat exchanger earlier by some some sensors in the water side or by finding changes in distillation results in laboratory - who knows - you just need more knowledge of the details. Actually they plan maintenance shutdowns to inspect all the parts and should have found the problem with the valve for the catalyst balls earlier.
Sometimes there are factors you cant foresee. I have seen holes in pipelines lying in the desert 5m deep. That place the water table was only 3 meters deep and the coating of the pipe had a damage - maybe from long time ago. Another pipeline started to show one leak after another since one company pumped frequently salty water in because they were stupid, they put in corrosion inhibitor for H2S corrosion but nothing in their water phase at the desalters. When the pipeline was out of operation for some weeks the water collecting in some low sacks eat through the wall. When starting again it was a sieve.
Greed is what causes these accidents..
I live just a few blocks away from this refinery, and can visually see their stacks from our street. You wouldn't believe how many times things go sideways and you don't hear about it or find out weeks or months after. They have an emergency alarm system they test on the first Wednesday of every month, and not ONCE during my 30 years living here, when things went wrong did that alarm ever sound. Scariest day ever was when the pacific grid shut down and the entire refinery was pouring off black smoke and every one of their burnoff stacks were in full bloom. One night they were burning off a LOT from their largest stack, a flume that had to be at least 100 ft high, and I FELT the heat from it at what I estimate at about a quarter mile away.
That shits crazy son, i cant imagine one day waking up and my house is gone
@@issac20trevino I'd think in that case you actually wouldn't.
I can't believe the zoning in some places. Where I live we're fortunate to have manufacturing, mining, and drilling... but not a couple blocks from the schoolyard. If you look at the most costly/tragic accidents, I think some moderate separation is worth it.
@@tieck4408 Just watched a video on the San Bernadino train wreck of 1989. They built homes abutting a curve in a track at the end of the worlds most dangerous downhill run, and built atop a major gas line to boot. Makes you wonder how the human brain truly works sometimes.
I remember that day! I lived a few blocks away.
My wife is a drafter that works for a steel fabrication company. The last couple years she’s been drawing regenerators. Been up to the shop a few times to see them come together. They’re massive objects. Super neat.
I was just in in a court is Washington near the Cherry Point Refinery and there's a huge set of Steel stacks just off the highway leaving there that I guess are destined to be installed at the refinery at some point in the future. I don't know how they manufacture pieces of metal that large they must be about 12 ft in diameter and over 100 ft long
Nothing more deadly than Chemical Plant Managers getting together to solve a problem.
Yeah some plant managers are clueless I should know I’ve been in the chemical industry for 50 years.
Mostly on account of the managers being more interested in bypassing an emergency shutdown than actually addressing the underlying problems.
When they broke open the flange to install the blind, the workers were met with flowing steam. This should tell them that the catalyst seal was not intact and that hydrocarbons from the distillation train could flow back. They probably figured this out but assumed that the hydrocarbon side was completely purged of flammable materials so they lowered the steam in an attempt to install the blind. The bad luck of having a leaking heat exchanger blew away all the assumptions. This is how accidents happen.
No hes right this is how accidents happen. They used a shit variance that didnt allow for zero energy and proper isolation in order to save time and money. You can talk all you want about systems but this is exactly why you blind and isolate and verify zero energy. I never work inside of any vessel unless its blinded at the first flange and every flange off the vessel and i only install those blinds after a thorough loto and proven zero energy is in place. Even after that precautions should be taken. Its so easy to miss these things and thats why you need qualified people working on your equipment and redundant checks are put in place. Ive seen people mistake orfice plates for blinds or break open the wrong side of a closed valve because they didnt double check or verify. That was a 2012 variance and should have been scrapped and a newer better procedure developed. Instead they cheaped out and boom. RIP.
Well said. You must have worked for Exxon before!
Over here in NZ, we have a saying "assumptions are the root of all fuck up's"
Personally, I think that forward thinking/thinking outside the box, coupled with not being afraid to speak up, is a trait that is seen less and less as the years go on.
thanks for repeating what the video already told us
why didnt they shut off the steam, lock out the line then put the blind in? if it was leaking by a valve they should of shut off the steam as soon as they knew that valve was leaking by and blinded the slide valve before they blinded the flange then turned the steam back on. if they couldnt shut the steam off then their should of been another valve where that flange was, they could of just locked out a valve and kept the steam on. poor engineering and company negligence caused this.
this shit happens so often at this refinery, that they have made every school in torrance practice shelter in place for when the refinery explodes again.
It’s not good when your refinery gets blown up more than a bounce house.
I like to free hot dogs Mobil hands out to all the schools and bragging how much they gives to towns that it's killing.
Bonnie
yeah I was at North High right around the corner for a couple nice booms in the 70s and 80s
@Bob Watters trumptards really don't get how these things work do they
@Bob Watters no but having a run down, crappy refinery that uses chemical compounds like MHF that have been phased out literally everywhere else could. This refinery is a menace to the city. Cope.
I used to build scaffold and I've been in every bit of that system. It's fascinating to see all these things firsthand. The animation brings it all together. Steel mills are also amazing
Was in my senior year of high school at west when this happened. Woke up to what I thought was a earthquake and thought nothing of it. Got in my car and drove outside to see yellow ash everywhere in the city
I was at Bert Lynn when it happened and Romberg feeling like my lungs were screaming as I was at pe
Read John 3:16 🙏
Another quality USCSB production that delivers critical safety data that will ultimately preserve lives. This type of exacting work is a clear indication of a commitment to leadership and higher standards. As such, The USCSB mandate needs to be maintained and supported by the current administration. To terminate this program would be a huge step backward. Greetings from Canada
I agree!
It also appears they vastly improved their animation quality, it's excellent to see improvements! :D
LanceCampeau I watch your cymbal videos. What a coincidence!
Cheers... I've been studying reports from the USCSB for almost 15 years. I can't tell you how many valuable pieces of information I've learned from their publications. It is imperative that this type of quality work continues.
Also noticed the improvements despite the recent announcements! The added sound effects were great!
I fully agree. The animation is excellent - very clear and logically presented. Even non technical people should be able to understand what happened to cause the explosion. The CSB investigation report into this explosion (and earlier explosion in 2012 at Chevron refinery) has highlighted the need for improved US and federal (California) regulations to enhance process safety management. I am not American and do not live in USA but believe that it would be a disgrace if the CSB is disbanded by the US administration!
I'm genuinely impressed at the production quality of these videos. It's both entertaining and interesting! The authors at USCSB deserve a raise!
I just retired from working in a chemical plant for 38 years and worked in a coal fired coal plant before that for 2 more years. There are two videos I just watched where an explosion was caused by the slide gates failing thus causing the catalyst shield to lose it's level via the leakage through the damaged slide gates. if there was an alarm on the catalyst level in each of these instances it could have sounded when the catalyst level in the vessel got to too low of a level warning the operators that the catalyst was escaping through the slide gate. Also having pressure transmitters on the hydrocarbon cracker and one on the vessel the steam was going into would allow the operators to see if the steam pressure was higher than the process pressure and keeping a seal on backflow of the hydro carbons. The slide gates needed to also be on a regular checkup and replacement schedule due to them failing in both these incidents. Seems like this type stuff was overlooked or the operators ignored certain alarms.
2 years later but Yuup
The amount of money that oil makes, you wonder why they don’t have more safety checks. 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
the alarms didn't work or there were none
We use differential pressure indicators across the slide valves to monitor this. The important thing to watch is the differential pressure between the Regenerator and reactor. The regenerator needs to be a few psi higher than the reactor to prevent reversal
Is it too expensive to have a backup valve so that if the first set of valves fail due to some reason, that such a safety critical separation can then be maintained by a second set of valves that until that point should remain completely new (though a little run-in).
They need to make these videos into Chemistry real world application training modules for High School and College. This would have a higher retention.
This is quality stuff. I'm working as a control room Operator on the Crude distillation unit and I've learned a ton of useful information from reports like these. It should be industry standard to release a animations for any major accident, as it can prevent those happening again in the future.
Interesting to know,
a control room operator leaves his room during similar incidents?
@@greg3930 They have rounds that they have to go on to inspect equipment during their shift. If there's an incident then they retreat to their armored control rooms (and I mean literally armored).
@@SVSky And they waiting until everything is completely burned
@@greg3930 If a fire is that out of control there's almost nothing you can do. My old boss had advice for when there is a fire at a chemical plant: RUN.
@@SVSky You and your old boss are right. But the first reason for the emergence of uncontrolled fire is running operators.
Man, the CSB really takes pride in producing high quality illustrations and narrations.
Thanks, I am a chemical engineer with 40 years experience in the industry, I found this video very informative, and should be compulsory viewing for all plant managers/maintenance managers, and particularly maintenance contractors who usually have less knowledge of the process.
I’m studying to be a chemical engineer in college. I agree, this video was very informative.
I love these. I wish there was a video like this explaining details on every major piece of equipment in a refinery and how these processes work (or are supposed to work, rather). I find this stuff fascinating. I only survived 2 semesters of chem in college before switching to Computer Science, so most of the hard chemistry goes over my head.
Superb animation and narration, as always, from the USCSB. These investigations no doubt help save lives. Huge improvement in animation quality in this one.
ARARUNA PRESIZA DE ÁGUA
Help save lives? What do you mean there were rules and regulations in place just Exon ignored them. Where is the commentary on maintenance records and reconstruction
+Liquid Audio --> "...help save lives." Actually they don't because the CSB has no authority to mandate policy changes for companies. They can only make recommendations which can freely be ignored by the American Petroleum Institute or OSHA. Which is why accidents like this keep happening. If you watch a number of CSB videos you'll notice a definite trend of the same mistakes being made over and over again.
I worked in a chemical facility making automotive paint. Every step of every task was dissected, documented, and theoretically, even with an an equipment failure, a safety issue should never arise.
But employees were pressured, and rewarded for, production. Employees who took dangerous shortcuts completed tasks quicker, and their speed soon became the standard. Production trump's safety every time.
We had enough solvents in dozens of 10,000 gallon tanks to straighten the river bend we were located on.
Even though we lived safety, and management preached it religeously, they turned a blind eye to short cuts employees are pressured to make, until something goes wrong.
If Americsn lawsuits stamped on industrial negligence instead of 'malpractice' liability, our healthcare would be cheaper on top of its high quality. We would be undisputed best in the world.
Then massive costs are invited rebuilding the facility and compensate for the injury or deaths,,,
Not a good business plan long term.
I worked on boats, used Sterling paints and they had wicked solvents.
Plus the fiberglass resins,,
One day some guy wanders in my space to watch my spray out a hill cigarette hanging out his mouth
My God!
Disagree completely. Safety trumps production. Anyone who wishes to push production over safety is asking for failure...at some point.
@@markrothenberg9867 You are wrong. I lived it. For a German company here in the U.S.
The biggest chemical company in the world.
Let's take a moment to appreciate the line "enough solvents to straighten [a] river bend". What an amazing turn of phrase.
Thank you for the clear and easy to understand explanation of how a fluid catalytic cracking unit works.
i did industrial construction work there in the 80's as an iron worker / crane operator , i worked at many L.A. refineries but we called that one in particular "the bomb factory"
Hmm... why not shut off the ignition source when in safe/ park mode?
You are asking an intelligent question, but I doubt there is an intelligent answer. It would be logical that, as an added safeguard, the ESP should be shutdown, isolated, and locked out to prevent restarting during safe/park mode but I am willing to assume that such a system would've been to much trouble (too much money spent) to add redundant safeguards. "That'll do and lets hope for the best" sorta mentality that major companies have, or so it seems to me. Risk reduction is very expensive and companies have mandates to only increase productivity and efficiency, and thereby gain more profits. Increasing profits by slacking and going cheap on safety systems, apparently, is an acceptable risk in the CFO's cost/benefit calculations. After all, as far as corporate is concerned, nobody they (in-charge executives/corporate) care about is at risk, so what?
The real solution is to maintain the valves better. I just started working in the valve business and coke is very nasty.
Robert Mintun
The animation gives the impression that the flue-gas system (FGS) is dedicated solely to the run-off gasses from the fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit; this might not be the case, as flue-gas from other areas of the plant might be treated there as well. What this means is that shutting down the FGS doesn't just stop the FCC, but also other areas of the refinery.
Shutting things down means they're no longer making money, but instead costs money.
You can probably figure out how the guys up top feel about that.
That's a good point, the ESB is electrical based, so why not shut it down, it wouldn't seem like it's too difficult to restart it, at least comparing with the other steps.
hey Moe,, hey Larry!
also worth mentioning: two workers were injured
I was caught off guard by this too. Really seemed to be missing a few key pieces like this that a very common to other videos. The ending was also very abrupt.
Skyler Kehren this is an incomplete video. there will most likely be a longer one later explaining everything in more detail.
Skyler Kehren it also didn't really show how the other light hydrocarbons got mixed in. They just say it was a leaky valve.
CIDADE SEMPRE LANCHONETE GANHAR MUITO DINHEIRO LANCHONETE VENDAS DE LANCHONETE GANHAR MUITO DINHEIRO LANCHONETE DOAR GOOGLE LAURENISE PEREIRA DE LIMA SOU EU.
I just noticed they are doing interim videos now of the immediate event and then a full investigation video later.
The wonders of TH-cam have brought me to your channel and I'm loving the videos! The animation, narration and simple way of explaining it all makes it fascinating for someone with zero industry experience
I love the little sound effects they add for the coking of the catalyst molecules at 1:15. They did this in a few other animations I have seen from CSB too :)
Great visuals! The slide valves on the Cat Unit I worked on were never tight shut off, big gate valves were the true isolation points. A flow reversal might have been prevented by tripping the air blower and slumping the catalyst bed, feed would also be tripped and diverted. Steam would be introduced to keep the catalyst bed fluidized and positive pressure to keep the fractionator from reverse flow. We had a CO dumpstack that prevents sending hydrocarbon saturated catalyst to the precipatators and the CO Furnaces. The Benicia Refinery has an Exxon designed FCCU now owned by Valero Energy. Variants to standard operating guides are a form of risk management. Most times they worked, but every now and then they would bite you.
Very interesting insight into this, love the animations, but also love the fact that they added decay/rust and old leaks onto the pipe works and apparatus. Nice touch man.
I wish there was a playlist, in any form, on this channel. I love these videos
LOL - the sound bytes are ADORABLE! I especially love the bubbling ones.
Im so not in this field of work but the CSB keeps me watching this videos. They are so well put together and I've even learned a few things.
I like the graphic of the gas monitor at 6:21. "GasAlert H2S EXTREME." EXTREEEEEEME *said in monster truck announcer voice*
And when the ESP blew up, the announce came back with "M-M-M-M-M-MONSTER KILL"
The sound of an H2S gas detector is pretty terrifying. It's like a smoke alarm.
@@SVSky H2S is scary stuff. When your alarm goes off you book it out of there.
@@parteibonza And we did.
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! Nitro burning fuel dragsters explode off the line at speeds up to 300 mph. Big Daddy Don Garlits, Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, and Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney push it to the limit!
I'm starting to binge ALL these animations on this channel during my 2020 Quarantine. Beautiful summary work.
I’m a chemE student and this was recommended to me. I think they’re listening to me talk to my friends about how much I love these videos in class
I didn't even know about this happening but oh my god this animation and narration is worth millions imo
Thank you for the explanation. My father and brothers have worked in such units as maintenance and as an inspector. I chose not to enter that field as growing up along the Houston Ship Channel I felt many refinery explosions. The Phillips 66 explosion being the biggest shock. I was about 8 miles away working on a commercial, 8 lane, swimming pool. The water in the pool jumped staight up two feet out of the pool then came crashing down. Explosions would rock our house, but that was a doosy.
Excellent video analysis and explanation. I worked in a refinery for over 10 years in an office function and saw two major incidents. In a large refinery or chem plant, there are literally tens of 1000s of mechanical and electrical operations functions that must work correctly every minute 24x7, or someone or many could die. The work crews earned their money daily. As a result, it turned me into a safety nerd in my private life.
Strongly agree with your comment
2:12 "
It is critical that the flammable hydrocarbons in the reactor do not flow into the air side of the FCC Unit, as this could create an explosive atmosphere."
...foreshadowing
These videos are truly Amazing. Not only do they explain the accident in a easy to understand format. But they also explain the complex and hidden nature of these refineries and how they work. I give this video a A+. Clear narration by a human person, machinery described in layman's terms, straight to the point accident detail, and superior animation. I love these videos!
It almost seems like your animations are getting smoother every time!
the narration and visuals are amazing. extremely clear and simple for the layman.
CSB videos are used for Process Safety training across the country. As a power plant worker, I have seen my share of these videos which when broken down show even though well thought out procedures exist in every industry, its never just one thing that cause these catastrophes. That's why we constantly train on PHA (process hazard analysis) & LOPA (layers of protection) to mitigate these accidents
Great job on the investigative works. High quality animation
yup
These videos have always been a great source of information and the quality of them has improved year after year. Unfortunately this steady improvement is because accidents still happen, often because of complacency and cost cutting. Industry has the technology and tools to improve safety, but that means reduced profits. My favourite quote of the late safety expert Trevor Kletz has always been "If you think safety is expensive, try an accident." Corporations need to pay more attention to maintenance and safety. Thanks CSB for your continued service and dedication in trying to make industry safer.
It all costs them very little. Their insurance pays for accidents and even accidents are cheaper than shutting down a plant.
This is by far one the best episodes yet !
7 am isn't a good hour to discover this channel... Goodbye sleep.
Thanks for the excellent animation
Lets just reduce the steam pressure, the only thing preventing a flow-back of gases, to do our maintenance.
Thank you for making this video! I knew absolutely nothing about what you’re talking about but was able to follow along and get a decent understanding.
My grandma from Dad's side lived across from rampart hospital depicted on Emergency, the adam-12 conjoined twin drama back in early to mid 70's where it actually lived?
Torrance, California! Passed that refinery every week. Refinery on the left, Goodyear blimp on the right.
whatever company produced this video needs to make so many more of these educational videos. well done
I'm working at this refinery right now.... on a major turnaround.....
same here
Same here. Unit 3 hydrocracker turnaround.
im in the crude unit. we just finished setting up temp pipe for the flush and clean.
local 250 steamfitters how about you guys?
Team inc. valve repair.
shitty ass coker ....line cleaning
Wow! That was a phenomenally high-quality video presented in a simple and understandable manner!!!
5:50 That is the most ominous red bubble I've ever seen. Gunna have nightmares tonight.
Amazing! I know nothing about engineering but I love these videos.
I am addicted to these videos lol.
Me too.... some of the more hazardous ones with truly evil chemicals make me shudder as an ex-firefighter... sure, we have the old Tellibubbie hazmat suits, but as a retained station.... scary shit! That said, on my patch, the most notable hazards were a few silos, a plastics factory (which did actually have an extremely serious fire) and a single lift.
Thank you Csb. My Process Safety Lectures will never be the same
The best narration and presentation...step by step ... AWESOME
I grew up in Torrance. This Plant has been having explosions and fires every few years for the pas 50 years. It's ridiculous, if not insane.
On the surface I would think that would be normal operating conditions for a refinery based upon the complex nature of the systems and the seemingly dangerous process to refine crude oil.... But, other refineries do the same thing without constantly blowing up. It's pretty obvious lack of maintenance plays a huge role in these situations. The well maintained refineries run and take time to shut down for maintenance and thorough inspection, and the others blow up and go back online after repairing what blew up till next time.
Guess who else is from Torrance?
Big John Holmes! AIDS deaths are completely preventable.
Busy Buzzbuzz : Huh ?
Get Trump out of office, and Biden will fix every problem
Never, ever let the reactor or regenerator go empty! You can use reactor/regenerator pressure if the slide valves pass.
I’ve been binge watching these videos all day.
worked at a fccu. there was a level indicator between reactor and regenerator so you should see the level going down if the catalyst barrier cant be maintained
DAT CGI! Holy shit.... good job!
question: why does the ESP remain energized in safe park?
Also why wasn't it turned off when they evacuated
What an awesome explanation of not only the fault, but the entire process. This was great.
Can we just take a moment to appreciate these exquisite fluid dynamics 3D animations in this video.
Great analysis and animation. I hope no one was hurt.
The fact that the maintenance supervisor stopped the operation is one of the reasons this wasn't deadly. good on him, you watch some of the csb videos and this isn't the case. the supervisor says "leaking gas alarms going off no we will stay and finish the work".
Cute! They know that even with all the treatments and alloy coatings they use in the pipework, vessels, and valves, corrosion and sediment build-up is going to still occur in just a matter of years, yet no one inspects, nor replaces anything until something goes critical or explodes...
Corporations serve their greedy shareholders. They have no real interest in public safety. Their insurance company pays off the damages and they go back to making money for shareholders ASAP. Insurance costs are tax deductable. Any fines, if given at all, are relatively small potatoes. Why should they worry?
- Oh, I hear you loud and clear: _"Whatever you decide to do, or how you go about doing it, remember this - DON'T STOP PRODUCTION! Do you know what that will cost the company otherwise - DO YOU?"_
Cudos to the animation team!! Awesome job!! Additionally, very much appreciate the voice used in the voice over.
I did 50years in the Chemical Industry and the major part of the job was Bonding and grounding and keeping air out of vessels
Man, I worked in refineries most of my life and you've got to keep your equipment maintained, most important thing. This could have all been prevented by regular inspection and replacement of a simpe slide valve. This would probably be about 1 to 2 weeks of downtime for the plant but look at the results of what the prevention would be. Greedy Executives pocketing the money instead of reinvesting into plant maintenance I'll guarantee you that's the issue.
Another superb video from the USCSB. Great work.
These videos are so good. How have I missed these.
Living here in Torrance my whole life, it never surprised us when it exploded. I remember playing flag football, and watching a massive explosion coming from the refinery. That was in late 1987 or early 1988. From my parents house we would watch the flames as the firefighters battle the blaze.
How many knew this 2:07 would be important to remember.
As much fuel is put through that in six years, are you telling me they don’t change out parts on a yearly basis?
That’s ridiculous, and asking for trouble!
cost cutting? 🤷 ya know it's all about 💲💲
Slide valves have blown up other refineries...just change them out every year.
Cost cut for sure. It's an old fight of departments: maintenance vs manager. Manager says that the time needed to do the maintenance compromises profit. Maintenance says that bad things could happen if stuff don't get fixed. Who you think is the boss?
The slide valves are massive. Just one can weigh several tons. They're welded into a huge pipe. It can take a week of 2 shifts to change one out. Millions of dollars and the entire unit will be shut down.
@@matthewerwin4677 Make them lighter and smaller and more of them. Proudly sponsored by Big Valve
Thanks CSB for sharing a very valuable lesson learn..
I work in the refineries. Installling that blind was something very critical . My family has been plugged up with the refinery industry. I had some folks there working . They said this was something indescribable.
It is truly astounding how the fossil fuel industry, with all their billions in profit, won't invest enough capital into MAINTAINING their facilities!!! So many of these videos deal with facilities that are so outdated and in such disrepair that the inevitable result is a preventable catastrophic event!
The facilities are good enough. If they were to "modernize" the place it would cost a lot of money, so they don't do it. The way the facility is designed is still good enough today. Im sure if they were to "modernize" there facility the company would still be okay, but there might be a small cut on company executive salaries, which im sure they will live, but they wont do it.
Edit: the main reason why this happened was not because of the way the facility was designed. But of corporate greed: CEO and executives pushing managers and workers to work harder (e.g., me executive want my numbers higher), ignore facility maintenance (its cheaper but not safe, hence this event and video).
I remember I was in class at elco when this happened... was intense.
I remember this. I was in elementary school in fifth grade during a “lunch club”. We were locked down for about an hour or two.
Top notch animation. Even I don't know anything about this industry, but this makes it understandable by speaking in simple language anyone can understand.
So, Let me get this straight, They attempted to linebreak on a unit that hadnt been shut down properly, not isolated correctly, and had live steam in? Plus failure to inspect/test valves that had been in service for 7 years? I would honestly expect better from Exxonmobil.
I wouldn't
Glad I didn’t write that permit
@@johnhernandez7594 I know, right. I bet there wasn't even LOTO.
This literally happened the day my wife and I moved a couple miles down the street from the refinery.
Talk about a welcome to the neighborhood. Geez
Here's the keys to your new hom BOOM ? DO YOU HAVE INSURANCE?
I grew up in Houston. Fortunately on the west side of town. That was bad enough with all of their air pollution.
You would think that there would be valves between the FCC unit and the ESP that could be closed to prevent hydrocarbons from passing into the ESP. There seems to be at least about 200 feet of pipe between the two. The workers getting the alarms could be closing valves, cutting off any pathways from the FCC to the ESP.
I used to work here back in 2013. You walk in there and you hear how dangerous any job could be and each day that passes without incident you tend to let your guard down just a little over time. Then when something catastrophic happens and quickly humbles you inside
Incredible.
This place was YOUR refinery.
Nice fake YT account you troll👌🏻
@@KingDevilCharger joke idiot
@@josiasl2772 Your name is a joke. Moron.
@@KingDevilCharger you must be real fun at parties
Nice to know that my car has more pressure and temperature sensor than a chemical reactor 😄
thanks for these videos. whoever is making them deserves a raise!!
Excellent video description of the incident. I know next to nothing about the extraction and refining of fossil fuels so I learned a lot about refining just from this video. I find it amazing that humans have acquired the know how, and it's fascinating.
That's a really well-made video. I work with similar software used to produce this and those gas/fluid simulations are on point!
what the software was used in this video ?
Is it Visio?
No problem with the simulators. Instrumentation and operation errors are the problem.
Excellent investigative work , keep up the good work
Excellent animation. Thank you!
Never got to work directly on the cat unit controls but worked in the surrounding units . Was always curious bout the components this video really a good illustration.
Another example of the oil industry and not shutting down. As soon as the steam/catalyst became an issue, they should have fully shutdown the plant. ie: the precipitator, reactor & distillation column. Cost shouldn't be an issue.
No one ever considers the cost of a lengthy shutdown and rebuilding a unit. Tunnel vision strikes again.
Well guess the fuck what? They certainly had to shut down after part of the plant blew up. No one ever considers the cost of what is likely to go wrong if they DON'T shut down when shit starts going wrong.
If there was a way to shut off the line between the column and FCC reactor, this would not been necessary. I am quite surprised, that as it seemes, there was no valve, which would allow that
My thoughts exactly.....when the blind flange was attempted to be installed, it should have occurred to someone that the escaping steam "came from somewhere" unintended...the defective slide valve. Thinking only one more step ahead would have alerted someone that the catalyst barrier was then GONE !..... ding...ding.....red alert. Then there's this aspect.....why isn't there redudancy in a "CSS" (critical safety system) piping line up....why not 2 slide valves in series...and a monitoring system to assure catalyst exists where it should ? Component redundancy is too expensive to do everywhere, but there are areas where it should be done based on the safety-critical nature of the system response. This is a "single-point-of-failure" critical safety system that requires added attention such as redundancy.
Because it's SO much cheaper to rebuild from a lengthy shutdown after shit explodes?
It should be at least three safety valves, before burning units, before reactor and mixed hydrocarbons tanks. BTW - why sparker wasn't turned off?
Looks like regulations keep it from being shut down. There must be other systems fed into the esp, and shutting it down will release fine combustion ash and particulate into the air, which California has a law against. This was probably a retrofitted system to comply with that law, rather than having smaller units, or better isolation (or they didn't use the isolation on this unit!)
I do not understand. Why ESP unit wasn't turned off?
@@WadcaWymiaru Very late but it was probably because the ESP unit was treating flue gas from another part of the facility.
@@Misha-dr9rh
But WHY it run during the accident? I would INSTANTLY turn it off.
@@WadcaWymiaru There wasn't enough time to turn it off. They didn't know the hydrocarbons made it back into the air side until it was too late.
I'm binge watching these. Very informative and educational videos.
Ah yes, 2020, the year of re-watching USCSB videos on a binge. Anybody else yelling at the valve at 3:30? How could it let the hydrocarbons in, that's crazy! Come on valve, why you gotta be like that?