Risk Assessment: Tools, Techniques, and Their Applications

21.1 Introduction

A class of industrial facilities that have experienced catastrophic events are process plants, specifically oil and chemical process plants. Some of the most spectacular recent events are the following:

• Phillips Houston Chemical Complex incidents
• BP Texas City Refinery fire and explosion.

The series of events that led to these events are discussed below.

21.1.1 Phillips Houston Chemical Complex

The Phillips Houston Chemical Complex had endured several accidents with fatalities spanning approximately a decade. Of the three accidents with fatalities, one was due to an explosion of released flammable gases and two were explosions from highly reactive chemicals. The result of the accidents brought on a great amount of pressure from federal agencies, local communities, and unions for the management of Phillips to implement a more comprehensive management of safety.

1989 Explosion

On October 23, 1989, while routine maintenance was being conducted, approximately 85,000 lb of highly flammable gases escaped from the process equipment within a very brief period of time. This highly flammable vapor cloud was ignited by an unknown ignition source. The resulting explosion and fireball caused the death of 23 people and injured another 314. The damage to the plant from the explosion and fires was estimated as being more than $700 million, and through the disruption of production, an additional $700 million was lost (1). Two of the known gases in the explosive mix were ethylene ...