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General accident information
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| Class/Quality |
* * * |
| Year |
2003 |
| Summary |
Clogged electrolysis liqour feed caused rise of
Temperature, short circuit, ignition of hydrogen/Temperature, short circuit, ignition of hydrogen
Oxygen mixture in electrolysis cell and explosion
In sodium chlorate workshop |
| Country |
F |
| Activity |
PROCESSING |
| Location |
CHEMICAL FACTORY |
| Chemicals |
Hydrogen (gas), Oxygen (gas), Oxygen (gas) |
| Cause |
Technical-failure |
| Fatalities/Injuries |
0 / 0
|
| Occurrences or events |
Block-of-system, Break, Clog, Explosion,
Ignition, Not-working, Overheating, Short-circuiting,
Wrong-composition, Wrong-composition |
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Full accident information
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Click here to view a document containing the full accident information
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Country: FRANCE (F)
Date : 2003 1020
In a sodium chlorate workshop of a chemical factory, a short circuit ignited a hydrogen/ oxygen mixture in an electrolyses cell and caused a deflagration. The lid of the cell was made of a very thin polymer membrane (diaphragm) which broke as intended. An operator stopped the production. After analyses, it seemsed that the incident was due to clogging of the electrolysis liquor feed. This caused a rise in temperature of the contents of the cell and in the production of oxygen. The temperature surveillance system connected to an alarm did not work.
Lessons learned
1.
A regular surveillance of the system with recordings was implemented.
2.
A complete survey of the surveillance system was performed.
Dans l'atelier 'chlorate de sodium' d'une usine chimique, un court-circuit enflamme un m??lange oxyg??ne/hydrog??ne dans une cellule d'??lectrolyse et provoque une d??flagration. Le couvercle de la cellule est constitu??e par une tr??s mince membrane en polym??re plastique qui se rompt comme pr??vu. Un op??rateur arr??te la production. Apr??s analyse, l'accident serait d?? ?? un colmatage de l'alimentation en liqueur d'??lectrolyse ; ce dernier aurait provoqu?? la mont??e en temp??rature du contenu de la cellule et une augmentation de la production d'oxyg??ne. D'autre part, le syst??me de surveillance de la temp??rature reli?? ?? une alarme n'a pas fonctionn??. L'exploitant met en place sans d??lai une surveillance r??guli??re du syst??me avec des enregistrements par des ??quipes post??es. Ce dispositif sera compl??t?? par une alarme de surveillance sur le syst??me de multiplexage des mesures. Enfin, une ??tude compl??te du syst??me de surveillance est effectu??e pour fiabiliser l'installation.
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