Department of Chemical Engineering

CHME 458 Process Safety and Hazard Identification

Spring 2022
L51

Case Study 4
Incident Investigation and RBPS Elements

Submitted By:
Name: Ghalya AlSulaiti
ID: 201703780

Instructors:
Dr. Fadwa ElJack
Engineer Hani Ababneh

Date of Submission: 19-4-2022

 TASK-1: Safety Analysis of the Incident
Activity:
In ground storage tanks the flammable liquid/fluid is filling out.
Hazard:
Excessive filling or Overloading of storage tanks resulted into spillage of flammable fluid/liquid
outside of tanks which may be detrimental effects on surrounding because it ignites and in result
explosion will occur.
Incident:
• An incident happens at Caribbean Petroleum Company which is oil company in Puerto
Rico. The location was Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The accident type was fire & explosion and
occurred on 10/23/2009.
• An above ground gasoline storage tank with the tank number of 409 which resulted in
discharge via elevated tank vents and resulted in creation of very large vapor mist cloud.
As this vapor could come out it ignites as it encountered ignition source and in result a
huge, massive fire explosion occurs.
• It was found that approximately 5000 barrels of gasoline released due to overfilling
Initiating Occasion:
• The level transmitter or controller was failed.
• Not Taking measurement accurately.
• No device for controlling over-flow.
Actions for Safety Preventions:
• Safety devices must be installed over tank in case of overflow to control the flow of feed
or inlet flow.
• Alarms must be installed that indicate the overflow of tank.
• Level gauges which used to measure level in tank must be installed.
• Preventive maintenance must be followed for process working and safety of equipment as
it also increases the life of equipment and also reduce the chances of hazards.
Mitigation Plans:
• Water showers which as a safety must be installed to the explosive place or equipment or
over the equipment which storage of process flammable liquid. As water tend to dilute the
concentration of fluid and hence if flammability.
• Removal of workers working on plant with the specified area range.
Outcomes:
• Safety procedure and standards which are indicate by OSHA and American Petroleum
Institute must be followed in other to reduce hazard risk.
• There must be regular inspection of equipment that process hazardous or flammable fluid.
• Automatic fire extinguishers must be installed.
 TASK-2: Flaws in Organizational Management
Following steps should be followed.
1) Organize and construct a table that summarizes a list of flaws from incident
2) Combine a checklist of flaws and identify then the group with specified flaws.
3) According to RBPS match one to two categories of flaws with safety management system
elements.
Step-1:
The table must contain points like, no safety, no emergency response plan, no risk assessment,
and no maintenance.
Step-2:
A list must contain flaws like bad process safety, no protection system, failure of devices, no
safety standards.
Step-3:
In this step match list with management system elements.
 TASK-3: Evaluate the Impact Caused by Incident
Environmental Impact:
As due to incident huge amount of gasoline is released which cause determined
effects on water supply pipeline buried underground as well as large amount of
carbon dioxide is released which have dangerous effect on environment and
pollution.
Transportation Impact:
As due to explosion rushing in traffic occurs which impact all traffic routes. Many places was
closed due to explosion to safety.

Impact of Incident on Organization:

As due to incident the organization obviously faced huge amount of capital and equipment loss
which was estimated to be 8 to 9 $ Million.

Impact on Community:
It was estimated that about 50 to 60 thousands were impact by this incident that lives near the
petroleum company.