The Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) determined that the explosion that killed seven workers at the Tesoro petroleum refinery in Anacortes, Washington could have been prevented. L&I fined the company $2.39 million for 39 “willful” violations and five “serious” violations of state workplace safety and health regulations. This is the largest fine in the agency’s history.
A heat exchanger at the refinery ruptured around 12:30 a.m., April 2, 2010, releasing hydrocarbon vapor that then ignited. The incident occurred during maintenance on the Naphtha Hydrotreater (NHT) process unit. During routine operations involving an on-line switching of unit heat exchanger feed trains, a feed-effluent heat exchanger catastrophically failed, due to high temperature hydrogen attack (HTHA), releasing a hot, pressurized flammable hydrocarbon/hydrogen mixture. Seven workers, five men and two women, died as a result. It is the worst industrial disaster in the 37 years that L&I has been enforcing the state’s workplace safety law, the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act.
The heat exchangers were nearly 40 years old and were subjected to extreme heat and pressure, wide temperature and pressure swings, extensive chemical exposure and a near doubling of production over the years. These are all stresses that can damage this equipment, including causing cracking.
Source:http://www.corrosionblog.com/2010/10/washington-state-issues-record-fine-in.html
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