National Transportation Safety Board Hazardous Materials Accident Summary Report:211 Failure of Tank Car TEAX 3417 and Subsequent Release of Liquified Petroleum Gas, 211 Pasadena, Texas, November 22, 1997

摘要

On November 22, 1997, a frost ring that signified product leakage was discovered211u001eon the bottom center of a tank car that was being unloaded at the Georgia Gulf 211u001eCorporation chemical plant in Pasadena, Texas. The tank car contained 29,054 211u001egallons of a propylene/propane mixture, a liquefied flammable gas. The tank car 211u001ehad been purged with cryogenic nitrogen on October 17, about a month before the 211u001eaccident. No injuries or fatalities were reported as a result of the failure of 211u001ethe tank car. Georgia Gulf estimated that approximately 52 gallons of the cargo 211u001ewere released. Total damage, including the cost of the clean up, loss of product, 211u001eand repair of the tank car, was estimated to be slightly less than $9,300. The 211u001esafety issues discussed in this report are the need to safeguard tank cars 211u001eadequately when they are being purged with nitrogen and the use of engineering 211u001eanalyses of the properties of tank car steels in the development of indstry-211u001erecommended procedures for the purging of tank cars with nitrogen.