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Gasket failures in US chemical plants
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Read all about leak-free hydraulic connections A new 100-page manual on ‘Leak-free hydraulic connections’ is now available from Parker Hannifin. The manual offers professional assistance to industrial users, posing and answering questions regarding the standardization, operating principle and assembly of leak-free hydraulic fittings. This new manual demonstrates tangible measures for ensuring leak-free hydraulic connections even under increasing loads. The measures and technologies required to achieve leak-free connections are clearly described,
alongside case studies on connection and assembly techniques. Procedures to avoid damage are emphasized for all types of fittings. The manual features clearly designed chapters with visibly highlighted key words in the margins, to ensure that the required information can be found quickly and easily. Contact: Parker Hannifin – Hydraulics Group, 66 Wakefield Road, Ossett, West Yorkshire WF5 9JS, UK. Tel: +44 1924 282200, Fax: +44 1924 282299, Web: www.parker.com/uk
Nippon Valqua clinches Korean order for fusion reactor seals Tokyo-based Nippon Valqua Industries has received an order for large-scale seal materials for a nuclear fusion test reactor in South Korea, according to a report in the Nikkei Business Daily. Made of stainless steel, the seals prevent piping from separating from the fusion reactor or suffering damage from thermal expansion or vibration. The order, worth around ¥200 million (US$1.9 million), will be delivered to the Korea Basic Science Institute. Seals for use in a fusion reactor must be large and require very precise specialty welding, so they cost
more than conventional seals used in chemical plants etc. South Korea is one of several countries participating in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, and will begin experimental operation of its test reactor in 2005. Nippon Valqua hopes to use the Korean order as a springboard to clinch additional orders for ITER-related seal materials. Contact: Nippon Valqua Industries Ltd, 2-1-1 NishiShinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0406, Japan. Tel: +81 3 5325 3421, Fax: +81 3 5325 3436, Web: www.valqua.co.jp
Gasket failures in US chemical plants A faulty gasket caused the release of more than 100 tonnes of highly pressurized natural gas liquids from an underground storage cavern at Huntsman Polymers’ plant in Odessa, Texas. And a week or so later, another gasket failure led to the release of at least 100 lb (45 kg) of gaseous ammonia from a chemical reactor tank at Degussa’s chemical plant in Theodore, Alabama. No injuries were reported in the Texas incident, which occurred in mid-March, but the local Odessa
Sealing Technology April 2004
American newspaper quoted a Texas environmental official, Alice Cone of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in Midland, who said it was fortunate that the gas did not meet with an ignition source. Huntsman general manager Bob Squires said that a metal gasket in a wellhead flange failed, allowing the release of natural gas liquids over about three-and-a-half hours. The gases remaining in the cavern were flared. Flaring was considered safe, despite the venting of
IN BRIEF Best Practice award in seal manufacture Trelleborg-Dowty, a manufacturing arm of German-based Busak+Shamban, has been awarded the Malta Enterprise Business Award for Industry. The award recognizes the manufacturing excellence achieved by the company within its Maltese, Hal Far division. This well regarded award was gained following lengthy and detailed examination of the manufacturing and quality control procedures at the company. It recognizes the advanced manufacturing and QC programs and techniques it has adopted. The manufacturing center in Malta was chosen to pioneer a new era in lean manu-
flammable gases, because the leaking wellhead was located a ‘fair distance’ and downwind of the 150 foot (45 m) tall flare stack, according to Huntsman Odessa’s environmental manager, Ed Gunderson. He added that the gas was being stored at 600 psi (42 bar), but by the middle of the next afternoon the pressure had been reduced to zero, allowing the repair of the wellhead to begin. Huntsman uses natural gas liquids to produce polyethylene and polypropylene resins. Ethane, propane and butane are the building blocks for ethylene and butene. Squires said the plant was running normally at the time of the accident. Workers ‘were adding ethylene to the well when it fell,’ he said. Alice Cone, manager of the Air Section of the Midland TCEQ office, said the gases were not particularly toxic, but were considered highly volatile. The quick response of the company’s emergency-response crews, in knocking down the vapors spewing from the pipeline wellhead with water, minimized the likelihood of the gas finding an ignition source, according to the newspaper. Bob Squires said the company has not determined why the gasket failed, but that a detailed investigation into the ‘root cause’ was under way. He added that the wellhead was last inspected in August 2002,
facturing practices, and act as a catalyst for similar practices throughout the Trelleborg manufacturing operations worldwide. Bayer increases prices Bayer Material Science has increased the prices of certain special-purpose rubbers. These include Buna EP, ethylenepropylene-diene rubber (EPDM) and Therban, hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (HNBR). The company says that the increases are necessary to maintain quality and availability. This increase follows a steep increase in the price of raw materials, and the associated dramatic collapse in margins in this market segment.
as required by the Texas Railroad Commission. ‘We are required by the Railroad Commission to inspect and test these wellheads every five years,’ Squires said, adding that the very elaborate inspection process is witnessed by the commission. Huntsman is planning to shut down the facility for maintenance in April, but Squires emphasized that the accident had nothing to do with that. The company could be cited or fined for the incident if the TCEQ finds that it violated state environmental regulations. The TCEQ will continue to analyze emissions and toxicology data, although it was not known when the results of the tests would be made public. The ammonia release at the Degussa facility on the Gulf Coast of Alabama was blamed on a malfunctioning gasket on one of the plant’s tanks during routine operations, according to the local AL.com newswire. The tank that leaked was a reactor tank in which ammonia is mixed with one or more other chemicals to create compounds. The plant uses ammonia to produce aminopropyltriethoxysilane – a binding agent used in the fiberglass industry. Plant operators were ‘confident’ that the plant’s automatic sprinkler system prevented any of the gas from entering nearby Mobile Bay. 5
Read all about leak-free hydraulic connections A new 100-page manual on ‘Leak-free hydraulic connections’ is now available from Parker Hannifin. The manual offers professional assistance to industrial users, posing and answering questions regarding the standardization, operating principle and assembly of leak-free hydraulic fittings. This new manual demonstrates tangible measures for ensuring leak-free hydraulic connections even under increasing loads. The measures and technologies required to achieve leak-free connections are clearly described,
alongside case studies on connection and assembly techniques. Procedures to avoid damage are emphasized for all types of fittings. The manual features clearly designed chapters with visibly highlighted key words in the margins, to ensure that the required information can be found quickly and easily. Contact: Parker Hannifin – Hydraulics Group, 66 Wakefield Road, Ossett, West Yorkshire WF5 9JS, UK. Tel: +44 1924 282200, Fax: +44 1924 282299, Web: www.parker.com/uk
Nippon Valqua clinches Korean order for fusion reactor seals Tokyo-based Nippon Valqua Industries has received an order for large-scale seal materials for a nuclear fusion test reactor in South Korea, according to a report in the Nikkei Business Daily. Made of stainless steel, the seals prevent piping from separating from the fusion reactor or suffering damage from thermal expansion or vibration. The order, worth around ¥200 million (US$1.9 million), will be delivered to the Korea Basic Science Institute. Seals for use in a fusion reactor must be large and require very precise specialty welding, so they cost
more than conventional seals used in chemical plants etc. South Korea is one of several countries participating in the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project, and will begin experimental operation of its test reactor in 2005. Nippon Valqua hopes to use the Korean order as a springboard to clinch additional orders for ITER-related seal materials. Contact: Nippon Valqua Industries Ltd, 2-1-1 NishiShinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0406, Japan. Tel: +81 3 5325 3421, Fax: +81 3 5325 3436, Web: www.valqua.co.jp
Gasket failures in US chemical plants A faulty gasket caused the release of more than 100 tonnes of highly pressurized natural gas liquids from an underground storage cavern at Huntsman Polymers’ plant in Odessa, Texas. And a week or so later, another gasket failure led to the release of at least 100 lb (45 kg) of gaseous ammonia from a chemical reactor tank at Degussa’s chemical plant in Theodore, Alabama. No injuries were reported in the Texas incident, which occurred in mid-March, but the local Odessa
Sealing Technology April 2004
American newspaper quoted a Texas environmental official, Alice Cone of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) in Midland, who said it was fortunate that the gas did not meet with an ignition source. Huntsman general manager Bob Squires said that a metal gasket in a wellhead flange failed, allowing the release of natural gas liquids over about three-and-a-half hours. The gases remaining in the cavern were flared. Flaring was considered safe, despite the venting of
IN BRIEF Best Practice award in seal manufacture Trelleborg-Dowty, a manufacturing arm of German-based Busak+Shamban, has been awarded the Malta Enterprise Business Award for Industry. The award recognizes the manufacturing excellence achieved by the company within its Maltese, Hal Far division. This well regarded award was gained following lengthy and detailed examination of the manufacturing and quality control procedures at the company. It recognizes the advanced manufacturing and QC programs and techniques it has adopted. The manufacturing center in Malta was chosen to pioneer a new era in lean manu-
flammable gases, because the leaking wellhead was located a ‘fair distance’ and downwind of the 150 foot (45 m) tall flare stack, according to Huntsman Odessa’s environmental manager, Ed Gunderson. He added that the gas was being stored at 600 psi (42 bar), but by the middle of the next afternoon the pressure had been reduced to zero, allowing the repair of the wellhead to begin. Huntsman uses natural gas liquids to produce polyethylene and polypropylene resins. Ethane, propane and butane are the building blocks for ethylene and butene. Squires said the plant was running normally at the time of the accident. Workers ‘were adding ethylene to the well when it fell,’ he said. Alice Cone, manager of the Air Section of the Midland TCEQ office, said the gases were not particularly toxic, but were considered highly volatile. The quick response of the company’s emergency-response crews, in knocking down the vapors spewing from the pipeline wellhead with water, minimized the likelihood of the gas finding an ignition source, according to the newspaper. Bob Squires said the company has not determined why the gasket failed, but that a detailed investigation into the ‘root cause’ was under way. He added that the wellhead was last inspected in August 2002,
facturing practices, and act as a catalyst for similar practices throughout the Trelleborg manufacturing operations worldwide. Bayer increases prices Bayer Material Science has increased the prices of certain special-purpose rubbers. These include Buna EP, ethylenepropylene-diene rubber (EPDM) and Therban, hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (HNBR). The company says that the increases are necessary to maintain quality and availability. This increase follows a steep increase in the price of raw materials, and the associated dramatic collapse in margins in this market segment.
as required by the Texas Railroad Commission. ‘We are required by the Railroad Commission to inspect and test these wellheads every five years,’ Squires said, adding that the very elaborate inspection process is witnessed by the commission. Huntsman is planning to shut down the facility for maintenance in April, but Squires emphasized that the accident had nothing to do with that. The company could be cited or fined for the incident if the TCEQ finds that it violated state environmental regulations. The TCEQ will continue to analyze emissions and toxicology data, although it was not known when the results of the tests would be made public. The ammonia release at the Degussa facility on the Gulf Coast of Alabama was blamed on a malfunctioning gasket on one of the plant’s tanks during routine operations, according to the local AL.com newswire. The tank that leaked was a reactor tank in which ammonia is mixed with one or more other chemicals to create compounds. The plant uses ammonia to produce aminopropyltriethoxysilane – a binding agent used in the fiberglass industry. Plant operators were ‘confident’ that the plant’s automatic sprinkler system prevented any of the gas from entering nearby Mobile Bay. 5