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Formosa Plastics Propylene Explosion
The Formosa Plastics propylene explosion was a propylene release and explosion that occurred on October 6, 2005, in the Olefins II Unit at the Formosa Plastics plant in Point Comfort, Texas, United States. The subsequent fire burned for five days. Formosa Plastics Point Comfort facility The Point Comfort facility is the largest Formosa Plastics plant in the United States. Opened in 1983, it covers 1,800 acres (7.3 km²) and employs 330 full-time employees and 3,500 contract workers, 2,500 of which are construction, and 1,000 are residential workers. Among the employees are 120 personnel making up the plant's Emergency Response Team (ERT) whose members are trained in hazardous material emergencies and fire fighting. There are 20 operating units on the plant producing a variety of petroleum and plastic products. Olefins II Unit The Olefins II Unit uses furnaces to convert naphtha or natural gas into a hydrocarbon mixture containing methane, ethane, ethylene, propylene, and p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formosa Plastics Propylene Explosion 3
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait from the southeastern coast of the People's Republic of China, Mainland China. The East China Sea is to the north of the island, the Philippine Sea to its east, the Luzon Strait directly to its south, and the South China Sea to its southwest. The ROC also controls a number of List of islands of Taiwan, smaller islands, including the Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait, Kinmen and Matsu Islands, Matsu in Fuchien Province, Republic of China, Fuchien near the Mainland coast, as well as Pratas Island, Pratas and Taiping Island, Taiping in the South China Sea. Geologically, the main island comprises a tilted fault block, characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of five rugged mountain ranges running par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Methane
Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes it an economically attractive fuel, although capturing and storing it is difficult because it is a gas at standard temperature and pressure. In the Earth's atmosphere methane is transparent to visible light but absorbs infrared radiation, acting as a greenhouse gas. Methane is an Organic chemistry, organic Organic compound, compound, and among the simplest of organic compounds. Methane is also a hydrocarbon. Naturally occurring methane is found both below ground and under the seafloor and is formed by both geological and biological processes. The largest reservoir of methane is under the seafloor in the form of methane clathrates. When methane reaches the surface and the Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere, it is known as atmospheric methane. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plant Operator
A plant operator is an employee who supervises the operation of an industrial plant. The term is usually applied to workers employed in utilities, wastewater treatment plants, power plants or chemical plants such as gas extraction facilities, petrochemical or oil refineries. Modern industrial plants are generally highly automated, with control of the plant's processes centralised in a control room A control room or operations room is a central space where a large physical facility or physically dispersed service can be monitored and controlled. It is often part of a larger command center. Overview A control room's purpose is produc ... from which valves, gauges, alarms and switches may be operated. Employees working in these environments are sometimes known as control room, panel or board operators - conversely, workers carrying out field operations may be known as 'outside operators'. Generally, operators are assigned to a particular unit, on which they are responsi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Emergency Evacuation
Emergency evacuation is an immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property. Examples range from the small-scale evacuation of a building due to a storm or fire to the large-scale evacuation of a city because of a flood, bombardment or approaching weather system, especially a tropical cyclone. In situations involving hazardous materials or possible contamination, evacuees may be decontamination, decontaminated prior to being transported out of the contaminated area. Evacuation planning is an important aspect to mitigat the impact of disasters on humans. Today there many Evacuation model, evacuation models to simulate this process for small-scale and large-scale situations. Reasons Evacuations may be carried out before, during, or after disasters such as: * Natural disasters ** Eruptions of volcanoes ** Tropical cyclones ** Floods ** Earthquakes ** Tsunamis ** wildfire, Wildfires/Bushfi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flammable
A combustible material is a material that can burn (i.e., sustain a flame) in air under certain conditions. A material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort and a flammable material catches fire immediately on exposure to flame. The degree of flammability in air depends largely upon the volatility of the material this is related to its composition-specific vapour pressure, which is temperature dependent. The quantity of vapour produced can be enhanced by increasing the surface area of the material forming a mist or dust. Take wood as an example. Finely divided wood dust can undergo explosive flames and produce a blast wave. A piece of paper (made from pulp) catches on fire quite easily. A heavy oak desk is much harder to ignite, even though the wood fibre is the same in all three materials. Common sense (and indeed scientific consensus until the mid-1700s) would seem to suggest that mate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vapor
In physics, a vapor (American English) or vapour (Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is a substance in the gas phase at a temperature lower than its critical temperature,R. H. Petrucci, W. S. Harwood, and F. G. Herring, ''General Chemistry'', Prentice-Hall, 8th ed. 2002, p. 483–86. which means that the vapor can be condensation, condensed to a liquid by increasing the pressure on it without reducing the temperature of the vapor. A vapor is different from an aerosol. An aerosol is a suspension of tiny particles of liquid, solid, or both within a gas. For example, water has a critical temperature of , which is the highest temperature at which liquid water can exist at any pressure. In the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere at ordinary temperatures gaseous water (known as water vapor) will condense into a liquid if its partial pressure is increased sufficiently. A vapor may co-exist with a liquid (or a solid). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valve
A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or Slurry, slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically Piping and plumbing fitting, fittings, but are usually discussed as a separate category. In an open valve, fluid flows in a direction from higher pressure to lower pressure. The word is derived from the Latin ''valva'', the moving part of a door, in turn from ''volvere'', to turn, roll. The simplest, and very ancient, valve is simply a freely hinged flap which swings down to obstruct fluid (gas or liquid) flow in one direction, but is pushed up by the flow itself when the flow is moving in the opposite direction. This is called a check valve, as it prevents or "checks" the flow in one direction. Modern control valves may regulate pressure or Fluid dynamics, flow downstream and operate on sophisticated Automation#Industrial automation, automat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Forklift
A forklift (also called industrial truck, lift truck, jitney, hi-lo, fork truck, fork hoist, and forklift truck) is a powered industrial truck used to lift and move materials over short distances. The forklift was developed in the early 20th century by various companies, including Clark Material Handling Company, Clark, which made Transmission (mechanics), transmissions, and Yale Materials Handling Corporation, Yale & Towne Manufacturing, which made Hoist (device), hoists. Since World War II, the development and use of the forklift truck has greatly expanded worldwide. Forklifts have become an indispensable piece of equipment in manufacturing and warehousing. In 2013, the top 20 manufacturers worldwide posted sales of $30.4 billion, with 944,405 machines sold. History Developments from the middle of the 19th century to the early 20th century led to today's modern forklifts. The forerunners of the modern forklift were manually powered hoists to lift loads. In 1906, the Penns ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trailer (vehicle)
A trailer is an unpowered vehicle Towing, towed by a powered vehicle. It is commonly used for the transport of goods and materials. There are two general categories of trailers: the full trailer and the semitrailer. A full trailer is a type of trailer whose entire weight is supported by its own wheels, with no weight transferred to the towing vehicle. In contrast, a semi-trailer is designed so that a portion of its weight is carried by its own wheels, while the remaining weight is borne by the towing vehicle. Sometimes recreational vehicles, travel trailers, or mobile homes with limited living facilities where people can camp or stay have been referred to as trailers. In earlier days, many such vehicles were towable trailers. Trailers have been used for thousands of years, predating the invention of the automobile. Before the advent of the wheel, early humans employed the concept of trailering by using drag sleds to transport goods. While the two wheel war chariot is one of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formosa Plastics Propylene Explosion 1
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The island of Taiwan, formerly known to Westerners as Formosa, has an area of and makes up 99% of the land under ROC control. It lies about across the Taiwan Strait from the southeastern coast of the Mainland China. The East China Sea is to the north of the island, the Philippine Sea to its east, the Luzon Strait directly to its south, and the South China Sea to its southwest. The ROC also controls a number of smaller islands, including the Penghu archipelago in the Taiwan Strait, Kinmen and Matsu in Fuchien near the Mainland coast, as well as Pratas and Taiping in the South China Sea. Geologically, the main island comprises a tilted fault block, characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of five rugged mountain ranges running parallel to the east coast, and the flat to gently rolling plains of the western third, where the majority of the population resides. Sev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pressure Relief Valve
A relief valve or pressure relief valve (PRV) is a type of safety valve used to control or limit the pressure in a system; excessive pressure might otherwise build up and create a process upset, instrument or equipment failure, explosion, or fire. Pressure relief Excess pressure is relieved by allowing the pressurized fluid to flow from an auxiliary passage out of the system. The relief valve is designed or set to open at a predetermined set pressure to protect pressure vessels and other equipment from being subjected to pressures that exceed their design limits. When the set pressure is exceeded, the relief valve becomes the " path of least resistance" as the valve is forced open and a portion of the fluid is diverted through the auxiliary route. In systems containing flammable fluids, the diverted fluid (liquid, gas or liquid-gas mixture) is either recaptured by a low pressure, high-flow vapor recovery system or is routed through a piping system known as a ''flare heade ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Distillation
Distillation, also classical distillation, is the process of separating the component substances of a liquid mixture of two or more chemically discrete substances; the separation process is realized by way of the selective boiling of the mixture and the condensation of the vapors in a still. Distillation can operate over a wide range of pressures from 0.14 bar (e.g., ethylbenzene/ styrene) to nearly 21 bar (e.g., propylene/propane) and is capable of separating feeds with high volumetric flowrates and various components that cover a range of relative volatilities from only 1.17 ( o-xylene/ m-xylene) to 81.2 (water/ ethylene glycol). Distillation provides a convenient and time-tested solution to separate a diversity of chemicals in a continuous manner with high purity. However, distillation has an enormous environmental footprint, resulting in the consumption of approximately 25% of all industrial energy use. The key issue is that distillation operates based on phase changes, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
