Ethylene Unit Heater Fire: July 2000 NOVA Chemicals, Corunna Ontario Canada

摘要

A fire broke out at the inlet to a vertical transfer line exchanger (TLE), while eight ethylene pyrolysis heaters were being started up after a site power failure. Rapid emergency response minimised the fire damage and there were no injuries. After the incident, one heater coil outlet to a TLE was found to have separated and a second coil outlet had partially cracked. Both failures occurred just outside of the firebox at the 'Y' connection, which is flanged into the bottom of the TLE. The subsequent investigation highlighted deficiencies in procedures as an underlying cause of the incident. This paper summarises the sequence of events leading up to the incident, the analysis of the causes and the lessons learned.