Document VGvrzgM4621DeZaxxDL5D3dEK

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT // MlONSANTO CHEMICAL t MPANY From LOCATION Texas City, Texas CCI Investigation of Fire at Department 6-16 Flare RCFERCNCC TO U/ . (I. A/ (J fr\ ~ 4h-g- Repeehlogen-- v ff / S)y/t fit &J6/L SUMMARY * At 0828 on Febrqary 3$, <1960, burning liquid entrained in the gas stream to the..department 6-I0 flare (16Z1) was sprayed over the dree directly west hy the east wirolg/3--e rXr fU*.C. xXx burning material hit the Power #1 roofsmall amount fell ov ameting the oil field, boilers. 7 iH fiL The fire department arrived at 08 irut umt the burning Q?6U&ft with powder, and the all-clear was sounded at 0854. -A . Damage ftx m ' i^roof of Power #1 and surrounding facilities was negligible gV\- . .f ' IS i'^-4 wtif COMMENTS . :i; .i. : , Due to extremely high induction demand, for tftg=past wepE^ department (UlS, has",h*d tcrflar^ part of its off-gas. liquid entrained in this stream removed from the flare sump by urlh c !l - r pumping to the DM header. During normal operation very little liquid tn gets into/flare base. The department 6-16 flare Usx. does not have a sight glass on itonce each shift the opera tor checks a bleed valve at the base of the sump and If udc.nlftnds liquid^ the sump is pumpod aut > It- was discovered that' this-valve was plugged~and the previous shifts-bellered the mimp wns anirty, rx< ^js ^LttA. va^vL WAS cf t-Jti. A-iL ri.^. c (Z/UCCant rW-AI Actually, the level was high, probably up to the gas inlet Jo ^ .,.<A 1 line. This condition eliminated any disengagement section and (9 during the upset/-Sunday^ liquid and gas were carried up the stack. ) At^Eese-high rates the exchangers (l6E5 and E6, 6E5 and f>E6) oxidling the^"offL-^as are close to flooding conditions. Ah upset or floodlngbenClitlon in the exchanger overloads the centrifix separator aitha exchanger (16E6) outlet and causes liquid entrainment to the flare or Power #2. During a previous high production period saddles kere carried over from the. l scrubber (16K1) into the chillers Pq6 and 6E6) which nave partially plugged chiller drain lines *dL contribute to* flooding. SC 16624 I ~ I IN 10 LAM024532 SC 16625 -2- PURTHBR XETAIL3 Departmehfc6-l6 off-gas Is oooled by a salt water exchanger (6E5 and 16E5), ohllled in a refrigerated water exchanger (16r6 and 6e6f^o remove all oondenalbles possible and the gaa flows to Powbj&Jte where It Is used as fuel for a boiler. In order to meet the^Lgh production demands, EB feed rate has been about 33f6 over^slgn but off-gas flow during the last week has been nearly above rated capacity. With the high flow the pressure drbo in the line from department 6-l6 to Power #2 created high pressure at the department 6-16 off-gas compressors' discharge (l<&lis and $01'a). Therefore, It was necessary to set the pressure regulated relief valve on department 16 which discharges this cold gas to the flare so that back pressure on ccatpressors would DtKheld at the top operating limit. ACTIOW TO HE TAKEN I. * * i. *. */ % The bleed valve was cleaned and arranged so that an Operator can dean it easily. Checking frequency was to 10 times a day versus once each shift. Actually, the flare sump had not been pumped out for 37 hours so that if theaBleed.valve had not been plugged, the sump level would have been kept clear on routine checking. During normal operations routine level oheoking and startlng4the pump as an extra precaution will prevent recurrinae of this nature, Installation of a high level alarm la-^pwhp sump will be consldered%and installed iff Juatifiablev The que ition=of- off-gaa system eopaelty Is- being ^ pursued by engineering and produetlen as part of expansion proJeaW ^fcr race tosh T'oriS op cJ-t tfiAAV****, F>.^f s S^JZAaI S/ttfTS th 9<*-1 Arw,Ui~J n tXi <4 r*{ ~ cfrtikf/sAuxr AS - 4 <rp AlC rJ Perieer p K Apt AsiA+K-Z 2-15-60 ^ l. otf Sty A*"- A _. UiULUX tint 4*slM M ftfrATuL. Jtr\, SJi-ptTy /M.ct'*- ,mt ' Tin*,*f^v^rAAJt LAM024533 C??