Safety in Design

Table of Contents:
Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Intrinsic Continuous Process Safeguarding 1 1.3 The Flixborough Accident in the United Kingdom in 1974 2 1.4 The Seveso Emission in Italy in 1976 3 1.5 The Bhopal Emission in India in 1984 5 1.6 Concluding Remarks 5 2 Procedural, Active, and Passive Safety 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 Definitions 8 2.3 Four Failures of Emergency Power Units 8 2.3.1 Introduction 8 2.3.2 Twenteborg Hospital at Almelo in The Netherlands in 2002 8 2.3.3 Westfries Gasthuis (Hospital) at Hoorn in The Netherlands in 2003 9 2.3.4 ZGT Hengelo Hospital at Hengelo (O) in The Netherlands in 2011 9 2.3.5 Chemical Plant 10 2.3.6 Additional Remarks 10 2.4 The Failure of the Blowout Preventer (BOP) at the Gulf Oil Explosion in 2010 10 2.5 The Safeguarding of Formula One Races 13 2.6 Dust Explosion Relief Venting 14 3 Safety Improvements over the Years 17 3.1 Introduction 17 3.2 Transport 17 3.2.1 Road Transport in The Netherlands 17 3.2.2 Unidirectional Road Traffic in Tunnels 18 3.2.3 Rail Transport in The Netherlands 19 3.2.4 Chlorine Transport by Rail 20 3.2.5 Sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912 20 3.2.6 Oil Tankers with Double Hull 21 3.2.7 Two Comet Accidents in 1954 22 3.2.8 Helium Gas for Zeppelins – Zeppelin Crash in 1937 26 3.3 Industry 26 3.3.1 Cotton Spinning Plants 26 3.3.2 Akzo Nobel Extracts Salt Without Subsidence 27 3.3.3 Two New Cocoa Warehouses at Amsterdam in 2011 28 3.3.4 Flame Retardants 29 3.3.5 Clamp-on Ultrasonic Flow Measurement 30 3.4 Society 32 3.4.1 Inundation of Part of The Netherlands in 1953 32 3.4.2 Replacement of Coal Gas by Natural Gas in The Netherlands 34 3.4.3 CFCs 35 3.4.4 Dioxin in Feed 36 3.4.5 Street Motor Races in The Netherlands 36 3.4.6 An Unexpected Effect: Squatters Wear Moped Safety Helmets 37 4 Safety Aspects Need Attention 39 4.1 Introduction 39 4.2 Transport 40 4.2.1 Bus on Natural Gas Afire at Wassenaar in The Netherlands in 2012 40 4.2.2 Light Trucks with Trailers are Dangerous 42 4.2.3 Car Refrigerants 44 4.2.4 The Eschede Train Accident in Germany in 1998 45 4.2.5 Burning Battery in Boeing 787 Dreamline in 2013 47 4.2.6 Ferry Service on the North Sea Canal in The Netherlands 50 4.3 Society 52 4.3.1 Earthquakes Related to the Production of Natural Gas in the Northern Part of The Netherlands 52 4.3.2 Fire at Chemie-Pack at Moerdijk in The Netherlands in 2011 56 4.3.3 Inflammable Building Insulation Material 59 4.3.4 Rolling Shutters 60 5 Make Accidents and Incidents Virtually Impossible 62 5.1 Introduction 62 5.2 Transport 62 5.2.1 Bus Accident near Barcelona in 2009 62 5.2.2 Bus Accident in Hungary in 2003 63 5.2.3 Two TrainTruck and Trailer Collisions at Gronau in Germany in 2011 and 2013 64 5.2.4 Derailment at Wetteren in Belgium in 2013 66 5.2.5 Derailment at Santiago di Compostela in Spain in 2013 67 5.2.6 Derailment at Port Richmond, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in 2015 67 5.2.7 Sinking of the Baltic Ace in the North Sea in 2012 68 5.2.8 Aerotoxic Syndrome 69 5.3 Society 71 5.3.1 Death in a Container for Used Clothes at Hannover in Germany in 2012 71 5.3.2 Death in a Restaurant at Zutphen in The Netherlands in 2014 71 5.3.3 Traffic Accident at Raard in The Netherlands in 2013 72 5.3.4 Accident at a Soccer Match at Eindhoven in The Netherlands in 2013 72 5.3.5 A Gust of Wind at Delden in The Netherlands in 2013 73 5.3.6 Boy Falls into Water Basin at Hengelo (O) in The Netherlands in 2013 74 5.3.7 Damaged Cow Teats at Losser in The Netherlands in 2009 75 6 Design with Ample Margins 77 6.1 Introduction 77 6.2 Transport 78 6.2.1 Coach Accident in the Sierre Tunnel in Switzerland in 2012 78 6.2.2 Accident with a Bus at Almelo in The Netherlands in 2003 79 6.2.3 Accident in a Cable Railway at Kaprun in Austria in 2000 79 6.2.4 Flashing Red Lights for Rail Transport 80 6.2.5 Luge Accident at Whistler in Canada in 2010 81 6.2.6 Concorde Accident at Paris in 2000 81 6.2.7 Space Shuttle Challenger Accident in 1986 84 6.2.8 Space Shuttle Columbia Accident in 2003 86 6.2.9 Air France Flight AF 447 Accident in 2009 87 6.2.10 Turkish Airways Flight TK1951 Accident Near Amsterdam in 2009 89 6.3 Society 91 6.3.1 Mine Accident at Lengede in Germany in 1963 91 6.3.2 Collapse of Terminal 2E of Roissy Airport at Paris in 2004 92 6.3.3 Escape of a Gorilla in a Zoological Garden at Rotterdam in The Netherlands in 2007 95 7 The Risks of Enclosed Spaces 98 7.1 Introduction 98 7.2 Transport 99 Lethal accident aboard the Dutch ship Lady Irina in 2013 7.3 Industry 104 Lethal accident during maintenance of a phosphorus furnace at Flushing in The Netherlands in 2009 7.4 Society 111 7.4.1 Fire in a Nightclub at West Warwick, Rhode Island in the United States in 2013 111 7.4.2 Slurry Silo at Makkinga in The Netherlands in 2013 112 8 Examples from the Chemical Industry 121 8.1 Introduction 121 8.2 Runaway Reaction at T2 Laboratories at Jacksonville, Florida in the United States in 2007 122 8.3 Reactions with Epoxides 124 8.4 Explosions at Shell Moerdijk at Moerdijk in The Netherlands in 2014 125 8.5 DSM Melamine Plant Explosion at Geleen in The Netherlands in 2003 131 8.6 Dryer Explosion in a Dow Plant at King’s Lynn, Norfolk in the United Kingdom in 1976 136 9 Gas Explosions 140 9.1 Introduction 140 9.2 Flashing Inflammable Liquids 141 9.3 Mexico City in 1984 143 9.4 Nijmegen in The Netherlands in 1978 147 9.5 Los Alfaques in Spain in 1978 151 9.6 Viareggio in Italy in 2009 153 9.7 A Narrow Escape at Tilburg in The Netherlands in 2015 154 9.8 Diemen in The Netherlands in 2014 160 10 Nuclear Power Stations 167 10.1 Introduction 167 10.1.1 General 167 10.1.2 Physics 168 10.2 Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) and Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) 170 10.2.1 Introduction 170 10.2.2 PWR 172 10.2.3 BWR 174 10.3 Three Mile Island (TMI) 175 10.4 Fukushima Unit 1 180 10.5 High‐Temperature Gas‐Cooled Reactors (HTGRs) 186 10.5.1 Introduction 186 10.5.2 Safety Aspects of HTGRs 189 10.5.3 PBR 190 10.5.4 Prismatic Block Reactor 196 10.5.5 Comparison Between PBR and Prismatic Block Reactor 198 10.6 Comparison Between Light Water Reactors (LWRs, i.e. PWRs and BWRs) and HTGRs 199 Index 203

About the Author :
C.M. VAN 'T LAND runs the consulting company Van 't Land Processing. He worked at Akzo Nobel Chemicals from 1968–2000 as a process engineer, and later, process development manager and project leader. He is the author of Drying in the Process Industry and Industrial Crystallization of Melts.