Blast, gas leak at Ctg factory blamed on lack of maintenance
Staff Reporter, Ctg
Lack of regular maintenance and supervision caused the blast in an ammonia storage tank of Diammonium Phosphate Fertiliser Company Limited (DAPFCL) at Anwara in Chittagong, according to a probe committee report.
The report also said the apparatus that measured the temperature, gas and the gate volt for the exit of additional gas from the tank was out of order. If necessary measures were not taken immediately, the factory will become a threat to humans and the environment, experts said. Some 250 persons fell sick on August 23 after the gas leaked at the factory.
According to the provisions of the International Chemical Organisation (ICO), any chemical plant needs overhauling (stopping production, checking and repairing tools); overhauling is mandatory every year amid short shutdowns, and the ICO recommends a complete shutdown every two years.
However, there has been no overhauling at the factory over the past 10 years, the probe committee found.
Alamgir Jalil, general manager of the factory, admitted that there was no overhauling after the plant was set up in 2006.
It has also been alleged that a fault was detected in the tank three years ago. But the management did not take any initiative to repair it. Even though 10 years had passed, the management did not bother to overhaul the tank. If the tank was overhauled, the accident could have been averted, said the experts.
The thickness of ammonia storage tank was supposed to be 1618 metres. The nearby Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Limited (KAFCO) and Chittagong Urea Fertilizer Ltd (CUFL) factories ammonia storage tanks thickness are over 1618 metres. But the thickness of the DAPFCL tank, which exploded, was only eight metres, said the sources. However, the other tanks at the factory have thicknesses of 18 metres each.
DAPFCL managing director Amal Kanti Barua conceded that the lack of overhauling might have caused the accident.
Earlier, the factory used to produce fertiliser manually. However, it started production using Distributed Computing System (DCS) recently.
When the DCS was introduced, the authorities started keeping 500 tonnes of gas instead of 400 tonnes. The pressure of gas increased in the faulty tank, thereby causing the accident, said the experts.
Its unfortunate that no precaution was taken to prevent such an accident, said Edris Ali, associate professor of Chemistry at Chittagong Mohsin College and researcher.
There is liquid ammonia. From the liquid, some gas is being created, and to measure the pressure of the gas, there is an apparatus. But the apparatus to measure the gas was out of order. The condensation process was out of order. The apparatus to measure the temperature was out of order, said Edris Ali. Its the duty of a chemist. As there was a shortage of chemists, it was operated by others, added Edris Ali.
He also added: A chemist can understand what the reaction of ammonia is and when it will be blasted. But in every Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporations (BCICs) factory, there is a shortage of chemists. Factories are being run without chemists, the experts alleged.
Explaining the cause of the accident, he said: The management didnt overhaul the tank every year. The CUFL and KUFCO also face the same risk, said Edris Ali.
