2015 Tianjin Explosions Yue Sun Ph.D. Student, CHEN Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center Steering Committee Meeting 10/26/2015 Outline • Incident Overview • Incident Background • Incident Description • Incident Analysis • Recommendations 2 Overview [1-6] • August 12, 2015 • Port of Tianjin in the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, China • A series of explosions, first two: 24 tonnes (metric ton) TNT equivalency www.theguardian.com[7] • Warehouse owned by Ruihai www. cnn.com[9] International Logistics • Crater: 60 m diameter, 6 to 7 m depth • 173 fatalities (110 firefighters), 797 non-fatal injuries • Caused damage to more than 17,000 houses • Over 22,000 cars were incinerated www. auto.sina.com.cn [3] Wikipedia [2] • Losses worth more than $11 billion, www. bgr.com[8] insurance losses of up $3.3 billion 3 Background Ruihai International Logistics Co. • Established Nov. 2012 [11] • 46226.8 m2, 70 employees, annual revenue over $4.7 million • 2013, two hazardous goods warehouses constructed [11] www.nytimes.com[15,16] • From Apr. 16 to Oct. 16, 2014, authorized to store nine different classes of dangerous goods [12] • Continued to work with hazardous materials without legal permission until Jun. 2015 [13,14] • Siting violates safety regulations: facilities that handle and store dangerous chemicals must be at least one kilometer away from public buildings and facilities [17] 4 Description [19-24] 12 August, at 22:50, the first report of a 23:06, first fire at the responders arrived warehouse www.mirror.co.uk/news[26] UTC+8 Time Zone Beijing Time 30 seconds later, 23:34, first second explosion, explosion, 3 tonnes 21 tonnes of TNT of TNT News.sina.com.cn[24] 15 August, at 11:40, 11 September, 23 September, eight additional clean-up of clean-up of toxic explosions hazardous chemicals pool completed 5 Description – Cont. Before and After http://gbtimes.com/ [47] http://america.aljazeera.com/[48] 6 multimedia.scmp.com [38] Analysis：Hazard Identification • 3000 tonnes of hazardous materials, 40 kinds [26,27] • Three main types Chemicals at the warehouse [61] – Oxidizing materials: ammonium nitrate, potassium nitrate, etc. – SodiumCombustibleCyanide Ammoniummaterials: sodium,Nitrate magnesium,Potassium Nitrate etc. Dichloromethane – Highly toxic materials: Sodium cyanide, etc. Titanium Chloroform NFPA Hazard RatingFormic [33-35] Acid Acetic Acid Amount Tetrachloride Chemical Special EU classification (tonnes) Health Flammability MethanesulfonicReac. Calcium Carbide p-Phenylenediamine Notice Hydrogen Iodide Acid very toxic, dangerous Sodium 700 4 0 0 — for environment, CyanideDimethylaniline Sodium Sulfide Sodium Hydrosulfide Sodium Hydroxide Corrosive Ammonium Maleic Anhydride800 Sodium2 Nitrate0 Calcium3 SilicideOX SodiumExplosive Sulfide Nitrate Dodecyl Benzene PotassiumCyanoacetic Acid Sodium Magnesium 500 Sulfonic1 Acid 0 0 OX Oxidant Nitrate 7 Analysis：Sodium Cyanide • Highly toxic via inhalation, ingestion and skin absorption, 50-150 mg can cause collapse and death [53] • OSHA has a permissible exposure limit (PEL) of 10 ppm (11 mg/m3) skin. • In moist air, carbon dioxide (CO2) slowly decomposes [55] 2NaCN + CO2+H2O →Na2CO3 + 2HCN • When mixed with water, sodium cyanide can undergo NaCN+H2O ↔ NaOH + HCN (room temperature) • Detoxification [54] NaCN + H2O2 → NaOCN + H2O • Thousands of dead fish washed up along the Hai River at a location about 6 km from the site [56] 8 Tianjin Analysis：Ammonium Nitrate • 800 tonnes of ammonium nitrate and 500 tonnes of potassium nitrate were found at the place of crater – high possibility the cause of the explosion [36] • Similar to West explosion, TX, 2013 • If suddenly heated up, there will be an explosive decomposition [29] weibo[41] 2NHwww.daveandchad.com4NO3 → 2N[39]2 + O2 + 4H2O 8NH4NO3 → 5N2 + 4NO + 2NO2 + 16H2 West • Reaction pathway is reported to follow first reaction during detonation; second reaction has been suggested when AN undergoes explosion [30] • TNT equivalency [32] 휂푚Δ퐻퐶 푚푇푁푇 = = 35.9 tonnes 퐸푇푁푇 heat evolved in this reaction is 201 cal/g, use a maximum explosion efficiency of 25% for ammonium nitrate [31] 9 gossiponthis.com [40] Analysis：Overpressure • Safe distance 0.3 psig “safe distance” 0.7 psig Overpressure (psig) Distance (m) 0.7Damage psig 3 psig Major damage 0.3 2682.5 “Safe distance” 0.7 1164.0 Minor damage to house structure 3 321.3 Major damage 10 151.0 Probable total desctrution 300 32.6 Limit of crater lip 10 psig 300 psig crater lip www.nytimes.com[15] 10 Analysis：Safety Related Problems[42-45] • Lack of hazards awareness and training – Employees for loading and unloading were not trained for hazardous goods, nor did they obtain occupational qualification – Personal protection equipment they used for work was merely a safety helmet • Improper storage – A lot of hazardous materials were at the loading area, but not in the hazardous goods warehouse. – Different types of materials were too close for compliance with local law – Excessive amounts of material were stored: 70 times the permitted quantity of sodium cyanide had been stored at a warehouse near the blasts • Lack of auditing and enforcement 11 Analysis：Safety Related Problems– Cont. • Hazard and risk communication – Warehouse was established later than nearby apartments, but neither developer nor inhabitants were informed about this or what to do in an emergency [49] – Firefighters were unable to get MSDS for hazardous materials at the site [50] • Emergency response – Lack of emergency response plan in coordination with local emergency responders for such possible fire or explosion scenarios – Poor emergency preparedness, inadequate drills and exercise [58] – Fire service, no professional team • Siting Problem – Media reported the area to be densely populated, with around 5,600 families residing within 1.5 km radius of the plant, the closest being only 600 m away [18] 12 Siting issue • Ruihai was not a special case www.nytimes.com[16] 13 Siting issue – Cont. • 2006, Ministry of Environmental Protection, national environmental risk survey, 7555 chemical & petrochemicals projects • 45% were major hazard facilities, 32.4% were located near residential areas [59] • Half of China’s oil processing, coking, chemical and pharmaceutical plants were located within less than a mile of sites like schools and residential areas [57] www.nytimes.com[16] www.nytimes.com[16] www.nytimes.com[16] www.nytimes.com[16] 14 Incidents in 2015 [60] • Feb. 8, Liaocheng, Shandong province, deflagration, 3 fatalities, 5 injuries • Feb. 19, Yichang, Hubei province, explosion, 5 fatalities, 2 injuries • Mar. 14, Kunshan, Jiangsu province, explosion, no casualties • Apr. 6, Gulei, Fujian province, explosion, 14 injuries • Apr. 21, Nanjing, Jiangsu province, explosion, 1 injury • May 25, Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, explosion, no casualties • Jun. 12 , Nanjing, Jiangsu province, explosion, 4 injuries • Jun. 18, Tangshan, Hebei province, explosion, no casualties • Jun. 28, Ordos, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, explosion, 3 fatalities, 6 injuries • Jul. 16, Rizhao, Shandong province, 4 explosions, 3 injuries • Aug. 5, Changzhou, Jiangsu province, explosion, no casualties • Aug. 12, Tianjin, explosions, 173 fatalities, 797 injuries • Aug. 22, Zibo, Shandong province, explosion, 9 injuries • Aug. 31, Dongying, Shandong province, explosion, 13 fatalities • Sep. 7, Lishui, Zhejiang province, explosion, no casualties • Oct. 5, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, explosion, 7 injuries • Oct. 12, Tianjin, explosion, 7 injuries • Oct. 21, Linyi, Shandong province, explosion, 9 fatalities, 2 injuries 15 Recommendations • Regulation – Set up land use planning and zoning practices for high-hazard facilities in relation to schools, public facilities, and residential areas – Enhance national standards, industry practices, and regulations for the safe storage and handling of hazardous materials • Implementation of regulation – Improve the risk management for industry and companies – Raise up the process safety and hazardous chemical management knowledge level of government regulators – Emphasize the safety culture of industry and company • Reshuffling of industrial layout 16 Recommendations • Emergency response – Enhance emergency response planning, preparedness, fire codes – Establish national chemical accident emergency response advisory center – Use professional teams or responders with special training about chemical hazards – Setup work place level emergency response plan for high-hazard facility with coordination with local emergency responders • Training – Train all workers regarding hazards associated with location-specific storage and handling requirements, require occupational certificate • Enhance hazards and risk communication • Auditing and enforcement as part of site management 17 References 1. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/12/tianjin-explosion-china-sets-final-death-toll-at-173-ending-search-for-survivors [Retrieved: 10/15/2015] 2. Wikipedia: 2015 Tianjin Explosions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Tianjin_explosions 3. http://auto.sina.com.cn/news/hy/2015-10-14/detail-ifxirmqc5101065.shtml (in Chinese) [Retrieved: 10/15/2015] 4. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/international/2015/09/04/380787.htm [Retrieved: 10/15/2015] 5. http://gbtimes.com/china/tianjin-explosion-direct-loss-may-hit-11bn-indirect-loss-immeasurable [Retrieved: 10/15/2015] 6. http://news.sohu.com/20150820/n419333461.shtml (in Chinese) [Retrieved: 10/15/2015] 7. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/12/explosion-chinese-port-city-tianjin [Retrieved: 10/15/2015]