Just a human error…? Case study of a condensate vessel explosion

Abstract

AbstractIn the early morning of June 28, 2019, a strong explosion occurred at an ethylene plant that fortunately had no impact on lives or injuries, but it provoked significant damage to the assets of the facility, business interruption, and concern in the neighboring community as the loud bang was heard several kilometers around, even producing some glass breaks in some of the nearby plants. This work analyzes what happened, what the consequences were, and the learning experiences from the accident. The failure that originated the explosion was produced in a condensate container of 2 m3. The author analyzes how smaller pieces of equipment with relative relevance in the final operation of a facility can become serious accident triggers. This work also evaluates the accident from the perspective of the risk‐based process safety management system, the selection and appropriate design of the protection hierarchies, and the human factor as a fundamental part of a management system robustness. One of the relatively new learning experiences being analyzed is the appearance of fake news on social media immediately after the explosion occurred. This further potentiated the drama of the situation, increasing the fear of the population, the distress of the staff's relatives who were at the plant at the time of the accident, and the confusion of the authorities and response teams.