Inspection Detail

Inspection: 316618255 - Meadwestvaco Corporation

Inspection Information - Office: Sc Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation

Investigation Summary

On September 24, 2012, Employee #1, a shipping worker, was unloading a tank, which was located next to a 400,000 gallon storage tank (Tank Number 10) of crude tall oil. Process fluids from the tall oil distillation were redirected to this storage tank due to a pump failure on the T-3 column. The flow meter for the process reverted to its factory settings. This change in flow caused the operator to falsely believe that the line was plugging and in response turned up the heat to the Doyle & Roth T-3 preheater. The difference in the set point of the flow meter and the actual flow caused a control valve to close reducing the amount of process fluid to twenty percent of its normal flow rate. The T-3 preheater, due to the loss of flow rate, heated the process fluids to the auto ignition point. The tank of crude tall oil erupted and caught fire and caused an explosion. Employee #1 was taken to the hospital as a precautionary measure after he tripped and fell when the tank exploded.

Keywords: FIRE, LUBRICATING FLUID, EXPLOSION, TRIPPED, FALL, TANK