Incident Report Subject: China - Liquid Nitrogen Release Results in 4 Deaths Date of Email report: Sat 22/02/2014 Report Detail:
A Liquid Nitrogen (LN2) spill occurred at an LNG fuelling station in Shangyanwan town, Yulin city, Shaanxi, China, resulting in the suffocation of 4 workers/facility commissioners The site is owned and operated by a 3rd party operator. The spill occurred during the offloading of LN2 into the storage tank for the commissioning process. The liquid outlet valve was opened accidentally resulting in a large release of LN2. Multiple workers/commissioners ran into the bunded/Diked tank farm area consecutively, trying to close the valve. This resulted in 4 fatalities due to LN2 asphyxiation. N2 SAFETY N2 is one of the most useful yet most hazardous gases used in Industry. Some properties; In the above incident a loss of containment of Liquid Nitrogen (-196oC or -312oF ) would have resulted in a rapid vaporization of the liquid in and around the open valve. This would have displaced the air and any O2 available to sustain life. The attempts by personnel to rescue their colleague without any form of Respiratory Protective Equipment would have been futile. As little as one breath of pure N2 is sufficient to cause unconsciousness and then very soon after death. PLEASE – Learn from the past and don’t make the same mistakes in the future. We have heard many stories in industry just like the one above, and if the industry doesn’t change we will hear about them again and again… Additional Documentation:
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