Bhopal disaster case methyl isocyanate

One of the most notorious cases of industrial disaster took place in 1984 in Bhopal, India. A plant with a license from the Union Carbide company was making methyl isocyanate (MIC), CH3NCO, which is an intermediate for the manufacture of pesticides. MIC boils at 39 °C, and the vapor density is heavier than air and very toxic by inhalation and skin absorption. The maximum allowable air concentration is 0.02 ppm by volume over 8 h. MIC also reacts with water and produces heat, which must be removed to prevent boiling over. On that day in 1984, the cooling system failed during... 

Many people are familiar with the Bhopal disaster in December 1984, and as is usually the case, there were multiple problems and failures leading up to the catastrophic release of methyl isocyanate (MIC). For this case study, we will focus on the organizational issues related to personnel turnover to provide an example of how such changes can contribute to process safety incidents. 

Other disasters at chemical plants followed in 1976 at Seveso (Italy) there was a dioxin escape which polluted over 4000 acres of farmland, killed 100 000 grazing animals and led to the evacuation of 1000 people. Later (1984) in India a release of 40 tonnes of methyl isocyanate from a batch operation at Bhopal resulted in 40 000 deaths and 100 000 injuries. Incidents such as these would have either been avoided or extensively mitigated had the processes been intensified. In the Flixborough case, a very much smaller vapour cloud would probably have been incapable of developing the shock wave which proved to be so damaging. A continuous intensified version of the Bhopal reactor may still have caused fatalities, had the contents been released, but there would have been very many less than actually CKCurred. 

The Bhopal industrial disaster of 1984 is an object lesson in the hazardous nature of pulmonary irritants. In this case, an accidental release of methyl isocyanate—a compound used to manufacture polyurethane and pesticides— killed between 2500 and 5000 people, and injured tens of thousands more. As mentioned earlier, much of the available evidence indicates that the incident was due to sabotage. 

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