Royal Dutch/Shell reports that the recent blast at its Bintulu gas-to-liquids plant in Sarawak, Indonesia, was not caused by the plant's proprietary technology.
Twelve people were hurt, none seriously, in an explosion and fire at the plant on Dec. 25. The plant, one of only two commercially successful GTL plants in the world, will be out of action for months (OGJ, Jan. 12, 1998, p. 22).
Interim report
A team of technical specialists from Shell and equipment vendors completed on Jan. 15 an interim report into the blast.They will carry out a full investigation of the incident and estimate costs for rebuilding the plant.
Following the team's report, Shell said, "The explosion occurred in the air separation unit (ASU), which supplies oxygen for the production of synthesis gas, the feedstock for the Shell Middle Distillates Synthesis (SMDS) process.
"Up to the time of the explosion, the SMDS complex, including the ASU, had been working normally, with stable conditions and no disturbances."
The ASU was supplied by Air Liquide.
Cause
Shell said that the cause of the accident is unrelated to the core SMDS technology."Based on the investigations to date, the most probable cause of the incident is that an incipient combustion event occurred in the ASU," the company said.
"For reasons still to be determined, this combustion event is thought to have initiated explosive burning of the aluminum heat exchanger elements in the presence of liquid oxygen, such that the elements ruptured explosively.
"It was an event which, based on the safety record of the cryogenic air separation industry, was totally unexpected.
"Samples being retrieved from the site are being sent for metallurgical and chemical analyses."
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