CCPS PSID REPORTING SYSTEM

Incident Report

INCIDENT DETAIL
Incident ID: 567038060720

Description: Silver Eagle Refinery fire and pipe explosion

Incident: 2009
Approval Date: 11/4/2009
Location: Woods Cross,
UT
Country: US

Fatalities? False
Fatality Count: 0
Injuries? True
Injury Count 4
Off-Site Concequences? True

INCIDENT TYPES
Incident Group Type

General Explosion

TYPES OF OPERATION
Category SubCat Specifics

PETROLEUM REFINING AND GAS Petroleum Refining Process/Operation Hydrogen Recovery

PROCESSING, PIPELINES AND
PRODUCTION

PHASES OF OPERATION
Normal Operation, attended

INITIATING EVENTS
Event Type

Metal Fatigue Metal Fatigue

EQUIPMENTS
- Pipe, above ground, bare
Piping, Valves and Hoses

CONTRIBUTING FACTOR
Factors Type

Process and Equipment Integrity Preventive Maintenance

CHEMICAL
Category Chemical Release Type Amount State

Petroleum Fractions Gasoline/Naphtha To air 1 U.S. Barrels

FOLLOWUP ACTIONS
Title Description

Limited reported information on CSB website

KEY LEARNINGS
Short Desc Long Description

Limited reported information on CSB website The only report available is a metalergicle report conducted by a
third party on the Chemical Safety Board website.
Corrosion mechanism
CSB Investigation Lead Dan Tillema said, “The metallurgical
analysis details the same kind of sulfidation corrosion at the
Silver Eagle Refinery that we found in the Chevron accident;
sulfur compounds in the process stream corroded a steel piping
segment, causing the pipe walls to become severely thin. This
incident is also similar to Chevron in that, while sulfidation is a
well-known damage mechanism at refineries that requires
regular inspection and monitoring, the segment that failed has
no record of ever being inspected.”

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
From the US CSB (csb.gov)
Incident Dates: January 12, 2009 (Fire) and November 4, 2009 (Explosion and fire)
Metallurgical Report Issued by Exponent, Inc. (Consultants) on 11/4 incident only: June 19, 2013 (No formal CSB Report issued; just
news releases.

Injury count from fire: 4 (noted above)

On the evening of January 12, 2009, 2 refinery operators and 2 contractors suffered serious burns resulting from a flash fire at the
Silver Eagle Refinery in Woods Cross, Utah. The accident occurred when a large flammable vapor cloud was released from an
atmospheric storage tank, known as tank 105, which contained an estimated 440,000 gallons of light naphtha. The vapor cloud
found an ignition source and the ensuing flash fire spread up to 230 feet west of the tank farm.
Injury count from explosion: 0 (data in this incident form used from metallurgical report and CSB News releases on website.)
On November 4, 2009, a second accident occurred at the Silver Eagle Refinery in Woods Cross, Utah, when a powerful blast wave - -
caused by the failure of a 10 inch pipe - damaged nearby homes.
overy
 State

rgicle report conducted by a

oard website.

aid, “The metallurgical

dation corrosion at the
n the Chevron accident;
am corroded a steel piping
ecome severely thin. This
that, while sulfidation is a
efineries that requires
he segment that failed has

mal CSB Report issued; just

ting from a flash fire at the

was released from an
phtha. The vapor cloud

eleases on website.)
hen a powerful blast wave - -