Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Texas Boiler Explosion had Prior Problems

http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=f1da34181ca604bf

A Galveston Daily New update on the recent Texas boiler that fatally injured a worker was published today. Staff reporter,TJ Aulds reported that a recent court filing produced records that indicated the Babcock and Wilcox designed boiler, which Halgo Power Inc. built and installed had previous problems. So why was it approved to be put back in service is a question asked by many. Currently there are 212 Babcock and Wilcox boilers registered in Texas by the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.

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3 comments:

  1. Wil FerchDecember 13, 2009 at 5:10 AM

    There seems to be an issue here that is seen in many other types of safety-related scenarios...and that is the concept of processes "in-transition". Regardless of true root cause findings here, oftentimes a contributing factor is when a process "starts-up"...or a process "shuts-down", or otherwise the process is changed from a steady-state condition of operation. I believe this can be a basis for a separate study or comment blog from a topic standpoint.

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  2. Wil FerchDecember 18, 2009 at 3:19 PM

    I've had correspondence with CSB and they acknowledge that although ASME wrote a comprehensive Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code as far back as 1915 ( with many updates since then), that *today*, Texas only recognizes the "boiler" provisions of that Code, and not the pressure vessel portion ! Here is the full response from CSB-->

    Dear Mr. Ferch,

    Thanks for you recent notes. On the issue you raise below, my understanding is that Texas has adopted the requirements for boilers but not for pressure vessels. The incident at Marcus Oil in Houston in 2004 involved a pressure vessel, and the Board (and the safety message) recommendations are directed to pressure vessels, which is where there is a current gap.

    Thanks for your interest,

    Daniel Horowitz

    --
    Daniel M. Horowitz, Ph.D.
    Director
    CSB Office of Congressional, Public, and Board Affairs
    V - 202.261.7613 C - 202.441.6074
    daniel.horowitz@csb.gov
    www.twitter.com/chemsafetyboard
    www.safetyvideos.gov
    www.youtube.com/uscsb
    www.youtube.com/safetymessages

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  3. AnonymousMay 29, 2012 at 12:30 AM

    Dear gentleman.

    We have a solution for these matter. We found a lot of malfunction safety valve installed to pressure vessel due to lack of efficient mechanism to ensure the function of safety valve.'Smart safety valve system' mechanism was establish recently and has been used by numerous international factory like Laferge, MAS KLIA, Panasonic, Toshiba, Carsem, Sony and etc. Please feel free to visit our website www.safeair.my and go to product review. We are please for any future collaboration. This system are design to help maintenance in ensuring the installed safety valve is always in a working condition only from floor level. Eliminating all working at height hazard without PPE and hassled tools and not even ladder. Many thanks.. looking forward your responses....regards-Shalihin Idris, Safeair Asia Sdn Bhd, Malaysia

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Thank you for your valuable input.

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