CSB applauds NFPA’s new committee on standards for gas processing safety
The chairman of the US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) applauded the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) for its recent decision to establish a new technical committee to develop a comprehensive standard for gas processing safety, including the cleaning of fuel gas piping systems. The NFPA acted in response to an urgent recommendation issued by the CSB following a catastrophic natural gas explosion at Kleen Energy, a power plant under construction in Middletown, Connecticut, on February 7, 2010. In that incident, workers were conducting a "gas blow," a procedure that forced natural gas at high volume and pressure through newly-installed piping to remove debris. The gas was vented to the atmosphere, where it accumulated and exploded, killing six contract workers and injuring many others.
“On October 29, the NFPA Standards Council announced it would establish a new technical committee to develop a gas processing safety standard,” said Dr. Rafael Moure-Eraso, US CSB’s chairman. “This goes beyond the CSB’s original recommendation, which urged an amendment to NFPA’s National Fuel Gas Code. Creating a new technical committee is a broader approach which opens the possibility of improving safety during a variety of fuel gas processes, including cleaning of gas piping and discharging of gas already in the system during gas purging or maintenance.”
The CSB had found that the hazards of fire and explosion during natural gas blows made the practice inherently unsafe. Efforts to manage these risks are dauntingly complex and fraught with uncertainty, and it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to eliminate or control ignition sources, especially since the gas itself may self-ignite. Dr. MoureEraso said he was confident that “upon review of the evidence, the newly-established NFPA 56 committee will agree that cleaning fuel gas piping with natural gas is inherently unsafe and should be prohibited.”
He also welcomed the NFPA’s announcement that they would develop the new standard via an expedited process.
“Some 125 natural gas-fired power plants are planned for construction across the United States over the next five years,” said Dr. Moure-Eraso. “So by helping to prohibit this inherently unsafe practice as soon as possible, the NFPA would be instrumental in preventing further loss of life and property damage.”
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