Chemicals — continued plants, safe maintenance

The roof of a small phenol storage tank required repairs for continued safe operations. Supervisors wanted to complete the maintenance without the fuss and bother of emptying and washing the vessel. This portion of the chemical plant had experienced a minor incident with hot phenol a few years before, so it was important for operations to empty the tank as far as practical. The thoughtful job planners decided to shut off the steam to the heating coil well in advance of the maintenance effort. The loss of steam allowed the heel of the tank to freeze. This combustible material has a melting point of 106° F (41° C). 

As plants age there is a need for increased maintenance on the process equipment to ensure continued operability. To ensure safe and reliable operation, the maintenance practices used must follow suggested vendor recommendations or be defined internally to address technical and safety considerations. The continued operability of chemical agent stockpile incineration facilities is dependent in part on the effectiveness of the maintenance systems to proactively address obsolescence in their procedures and practices and to modify systems as required to process severely degraded stockpile items. 

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