Some of the Many Unpublished Errors Created with Hoses

Some of the Many Unpublished Errors Created with Hoses 

According to the ambiguous instructions written in the log for the operator, he should have pressured up the ammonia condenser to compressed air system pressure. Next, he should block off the air supply and discharge ammonia fumes to the atmosphere. The operator pressurized the ammonia-laden condenser to full air system pressure, but unfortunately did not block it off. Therefore at the beginning of the day when the arriving maintenance mechanics 

Another undocumented story concerns a dangerous quantity of hydrazine (a very toxic vapor, corrosive to the skin and spontaneously igniting flammable liquid) backing into a power plants drinking water supply from a utility well water hose connected to the boiler water treating system. This reportedly resulted in the hospitalization of a number of power plant workers. 

During this inspection the contractor recognized that additional fiberglass work was required. These repairs would require grinding to properly finish one of the field made joints within this header. The contractor generally used a pneumatic grinder for these type of repairs and this chemical plant was equipped with many compressed air utility stations which could be connected to nominal 3/4-inch (1.9 cm) hoses. 

Tragically, the repair job was many feet down the header, and the nitrogen-powered grinder exhausted into the confined space, asphyxiating the repairman. A well-intentioned, simple, one-minute modification to piping by a small contractor cost a fife of a coworker. 

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