What caused the piper alpha disaster. Piper Alpha Disaster 2022-11-02
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The Piper Alpha disaster was a catastrophic oil platform explosion and fire that occurred on July 6, 1988, in the North Sea, approximately 120 miles north-east of Aberdeen, Scotland. The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in the deaths of 167 people, making it one of the worst offshore oil disasters in history.
There were a number of factors that contributed to the disaster, including a lack of adequate safety measures, inadequate training of workers, and a failure to properly maintain the platform.
One of the primary causes of the disaster was the lack of a "double barrier" system, which is a safety measure that is designed to prevent the release of hydrocarbons in the event of a failure. The Piper Alpha platform only had a single barrier system, which was not sufficient to prevent the release of hydrocarbons in the event of a failure.
Another factor that contributed to the disaster was the inadequate training of workers on the platform. Many of the workers did not receive proper training on how to respond to an emergency situation, and as a result, they were unable to properly evacuate the platform when the explosion occurred.
Additionally, the platform had not been properly maintained, which contributed to the disaster. The platform's lifeboat launching system, for example, was not working properly and was unable to be used during the evacuation.
Overall, the Piper Alpha disaster was a tragedy that was caused by a combination of factors, including a lack of adequate safety measures, inadequate training of workers, and a failure to properly maintain the platform. It is a reminder of the importance of proper safety measures and training in the offshore oil industry, and the need to prioritize the safety of workers at all times.
Failure of Process Safety Management on Every Level: Piper Alpha Incident
A standby vessel has picked up 25 casualties, including three with serious burns, and another one with an injury. The original modules on the structure were carefully located, with the staff quarters kept well away from the most dangerous production parts of the platform. The controversy around it was heightened when a report into the disaster by Lord Cullen judged that the operator Occidental Petroleum had used inadequate maintenance and safety procedures. As the crux of these new findings, the pressures in the piping were sufficient to damage the flange by themselves, and the resulting autoignition pressures were sufficient to explode the pipe into fragments. Situated just off the coast of Aberdeen, a city famous for its oil rigs and production, the oil platform exploded on July 6 1988.
Process Safety: Thirty Years After the Piper Alpha Disaster
Most of the physical evidence sank to the bottom of the North Sea, so the testimony of survivors and witnesses had to be woven together into a coherent story. The Piper platform along with its types of equipment and accommodations was destroyed in a matter of hours. Three fuel sources then fed the fires continually, i. Furthermore, calculations prove that the resultant detonation pressure in the pipe far exceeded the pressure needed to blow apart the pipe and the attached flange. Such actions constituted a cover-up of explosion safety hazards in the oil and gas industries.
The Causes and Consequences of the Piper Alpha Disaster Case Study Example
However, the interpretation of events presented here significantly differs from the interpretations that are provided with those videos and reports, and figures are appropriately annotated and modified to reflect new findings. The burning oil later drips onto a lower platform used by the rig for diving operations. OPCAL built the Claymore platform joining it some 20 miles 32km to the west. A fast rescue craft, launched from standby vessel Sandhaven, was destroyed by the explosion, killing two of the three-man crew and the six men they had just rescued from the sea. Due to this blockage, condensate Pump B stopped and could not be restarted. This included climbing down knotted ropes and jumping, from as high as the helideck, over 50 metres above sea level.
Findings On the evening of 06 July 1988, condensate pump A was isolated for maintenance on its motor drive coupling. By the following morning, only Module A, the wellhead module, remained standing Lees. By the early morning of 7 July 1988, three-quarters of the original topsides, together with significant sections of the jacket, had been destroyed and lay in a tangled mass on the seabed 140 metres below. Theoretically, the platform would then have been isolated from the flow of oil and gas and the fire contained. .
It is said it took Mr Meanen seven seconds to hit the water, such was the height he jumped. Figure 9: Explosions 1 and 2 - The first water hammer explosion ruptured the pipe to leak fiery liquefied methane and initiated the disastrous Pipe Alpha explosions - audible explosions. On other rigs this was managed by close communication with divers and a temporary override used only when the divers were working within a short distance of the inlets, a relatively rare occurrence. Their relative locations with respect to the initial fuel source may have determined which one blew apart first. The Piper Alpha Platform The Piper Alpha platform was a large, fixed structure platform located in 474 ft of water in the Piper field in the North Sea some 110 miles northeast of Aberdeen. Lives are needlessly in danger.
Piper Alpha: The world’s deadliest offshore oil disaster
Another Op Ed discusses the full extent of this misleading research A peer-reviewed journal paper explains the math and the physics associated with this disaster investigation "Explosion Differentiation Using Light Emissions - Nuclear Reactor, Steam, Water Hammer, Hydrogen, Piper Alpha, and Hydro-Volcanic Explosions", 2022, in publication. . Explosion pressures - 18,666 psi psi is less than 46,040 psi. Even though workers knew that they would be fired if they did not properly tighten bolts, one worker was accused of incompetently not tightening the bolts on the flange properly - nonsense. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
Most accidents involve human errors. The retrofitting went on in several phases, starting with separation of condensate and ending with production of export-quality gas. Although autoignition was considered by Cullen, water hammer was not evaluated at all. Note that methane burns blue when there is plenty of air for complete combustion, similar to a burner on a kitchen stove. When the disaster occurred, offshore safety was governed through the use of prescriptive regulations. . By doing so, the actual cause of the Piper Alpha disaster was buried for many years.
Article: What Really Happened at the Piper Alpha Oil
The Occidental procedure required maintenance and operations to meet, inspect the work site and sign off permits together. Retrieved 18 December 2005. Who is authorised to override automatic safety systems? The oil from Tartan to Claymore joined oil from Piper Alpha at a Y junction before flowing onwards to Flotta. How is my facility connected to other facilities, what could go wrong at the interface? A Massive Fire from Module B after Explosion 3 Following the Module B gas explosion, the Piper alpha platform was engulfed in flames. As a result, as fireboats arrived, there was no one to give orders to begin fighting the fire until the master of one of the boats assumed a role as OSC on-scene commander and guided the efforts. .
