Piper Alpha, North Sea - Fire...
Transcript of Piper Alpha, North Sea - Fire...
105
1
PiperAlphawasonceBritain'sbiggestsingleoilandgasproducingplatform,builtin1976andproducedmorethan300,000barrelsofcrudeaday–10%ofthecountry'stotal–frombelowtheseabed125milesnorth-eastofAberdeen.OilwasdiscoveredatthePiperfieldin1973andwasbroughtonstreamthreeyearslater.By1980thesteelplatformwasmodifiedtoalsotakegasandwasconnectedbypipelinetotheOrkneyIslands.Itwasproducingabout300,000barrelsofoiladayforOccidentalPetroleumPoorcommunicationduringashiftchangeresultedinakeypieceofpipeworkthathadbeensealedwithatemporarycoverandnosafetyvalvewasusedallowinggastoleakoutandignitedwhilefirewallsthatwouldhaveresistedafireonanoilplatformfailedtocopewiththegasexplosionoverpressures.Flamesreachingover100mintotheairforcing61mentosurvivebyjumping175ft(53m)fromtherig'shelicopterdeckintothesea.
2
Thepublicenquirythatfollowednocriminalchargeswerebroughtagainstthecompanyhowever,106recommendationsforchangeswererecommendedtothesafetyoperationsfortheNorthSeaoperationsallofwhichweacceptedbytheoilindustries.
IntheyearsthatfollowedthepiperAlphadisastertheoilcompanieshavespentover£2bnonhealthandsafetymatters.
SincethisincidenttherehasnotbeenanotherNorthSeablowout.
PiperAlpha,NorthSeaJuly6,1988
EventStatistics
Withintwohourstherighadcollapsedfromitsposition300ftabovethesurfaceoftheseaand becomeaflamingpyreoftwistedmetal.
LessonsLearned
Durationoffire
Numberofcasualties
Costtoindustry
References
167casualties
£1.7Billionplus
PiperAlpha.1988.[Online].[Accessed12October2014].http://www.hse.gov.uk/research/rrpdf/rr089.pdfPiperAlpha.JudgeLardCullen2013.[Online].[Accessed23October2014].http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-22863286
TypeoffireGasvapourexplosion/hydrocarbon
Massiveleakageofgascondensatethatwasignitedcausinganexplosion,whichledtolargeoilfires
IgnitionSource