Early on a Saturday morning, a 2-inch pipe in an unoccupied building in a plant that was shut down for the weekend ruptured violently. There were no injuries because there was nobody in the building at the time. Nearby piping was bent and ruptured by impact from the failed pipe, and there was other minor equipment damage. The released material did not ignite, and it was contained by the building spill containment system. The initial investigation of the incident determined that the ruptured pipe had been liquid filled, blocked in by closed valves, and overheated. The investigation could have stopped at that point, blaming the rupture on thermal expansion of the trapped liquid. However, a more detailed root cause investigation was done. This investigation resulted in significant new knowledge of the thermal stability of the material, which had been handled in the plant for many years, and a better understanding of the real root causes of the incident. This knowledge of potential reactive chemical hazards also resulted in redesign of the plant piping and the emergency relief systems on a number of plant vessels.
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