Union Carbide plant

Ironically, despite all this scientific progress, modern fiberoptic cables went into service during a decade of chemical catastrophes more reminiscent of the old Leblanc factories than of optical fibers superpurity. On December 3, 1984, a cloud of deadly methylisocyanate gas leaked from a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India the gas killed more than 3000 people and injured up to 25,000. Two years later in Europe, a Sandoz chemical factory spilled 30 tons of chemicals into the Rhine River, killing fish for 120 miles downstream. In North America, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled crude oil over 1000 miles of Alaskan coastline in 1989. 

The tragedy at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India in 1984 highlighted, among other issues, the critical need for careful monitoring of methyl isocyanate in the environment. 87 and 88 are both lumophore-spacer-secondary... 

Plate-and-frame modules were one of the earliest types of membrane system. A plate-and-frame design proposed by Stem [110] for early Union Carbide plants to recovery helium from natural gas is shown in Figure 3.38. Membrane, feed spacers, and product spacers are layered together between two end plates. The feed mixture is forced across the surface of the membrane. A portion passes through the membrane, enters the permeate channel, and makes its way to a central permeate collection manifold. 

Union Carbide plants in Texas and Puerto Rico have been modified, utilizing this new technology for propionaldehyde and butyralde-... 

The design of chemical plants to be more nearly inherently safe has received a great deal of attention in recent years. This is due in part to the worldwide attention to safety issues in the chemical industry brought on by the gas release at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, in December 1984. This and the fairly frequent occurrence of other chemical plant incidents has raised the issue of chemical plant safety to a very high level of visibility and concern. The major factors that should be considered in the planning, design, and operation of chemical plants are described below. The reader is referred to the list of recommended supplementary reading at the end of the chapter for more detailed information. 

Aldicarb was one of the cotton pesticides being manufactured at the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, when it became the site of the world s worst industrial disaster in 1984 °. 

In Bhopal, India, in 1984, there was an unintentional release of cyanide into the air from the Union Carbide plant. Between 16,000 and 30,000 died following the exposure it is known that thousands of children died, but no exact numbers are reported (Lapierre Moro, 2002). Irani and Mahashur (1986) studied 211 affected by the methyl isocyanate gas. Four of eight newborns exposed to the gas developed pneumonia, and two subsequently died. Of the 164 children who remained within one-half to 2 kilometers of the plant after the gas s release, cough, eye involvement, and breathlessness were most often reported as the initial symptoms, while 47 children who were 8-10 kilometers away from the site had no initial symptoms. Both groups reported late symptoms of cough and breathlessness however, the group closest to the site had a higher proportion of symptoms. 

The cyanide theory was triggered by the following events. First, in response to an enquiry from Bhopal immediately after the effects of the gas leak were felt in Bhopal, a senior official at the Union Carbide Plant in West Virginia is reported to have advised administration of... 

Accidental release of MIC can happen wherever the chemical is stored. A minor leak occurred from the Union Carbide plant in West Virginia only a few months after the Bhopal disaster and a nearby school had to be evacuated. Exposure to MIC at higher concentrations and for a longer duration than happened in Bhopal can also occur and can be fatal to a substantially greater percentage of population regardless of where it happens. The fact that MIC is heavier... 

If animal experiments were solely performed to answer questions relating to the Bhopal disaster, the use of excessively high concentrations of MIC (Dodd et al, 1987 Troup et al, 1987 Fedde et al, 1987 Fowler et al, 1987) and repeated exposures would not have much relevance. However, workers are likely to encounter repeated exposure to MIC indeed, anecdotal reports suggest that the impending disaster was not expected because workers were used to minor leaks and consequently eye irritation in the Union Carbide plant. Although no worker died inside the plant in Bhopal, because MIC spewed outside the factory, an accident worse than Bhopal cannot be ruled out, especially in an enclosed space. 

On December 26, 1984 at 11 30 p.m, when the people of Bhopal, India, were preparing for sleep, a worker detected a water leak in a storage tank containing methyl isocyanate (MIC) at the Union Carbide Plant. About 40 tons of MIC poured from the tank for nearly 2 hours without any preventive measures being taken. The night winds carried the MIC into the city of Bhopal. Some estimates report 4000 people were killed, many in their sleep and as many as 400,000 more were injured or affected. 

The 1984 release of methyl isocyanate from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, not only resulted in shutting down that facility and Union Carbide s ultimate cessation of all operations in India, but also negatively affected the company s stock price in the short term and led to a hostile takeover attempt by a competitor (which UCC was able to thwart). 

The gas leak had devastating effects on the exposed population. Over 200000 residents (that comprised about one-fourth of the total population of city of Bhopal) were exposed to MIC and other related toxic gases released from the plant. Most of these residents were from the poor class and were living in the immediate surroundings of the Union carbide plant. The human mortality is estimated to be between 2500 and 5000 from this accident. Respiratory failure due to MIC inhalation was the principal cause of death. MIC caused bronchial necrosis and pulmonary edema. Within the first 24 h after the accident, 90 000 patients were admitted in local hospitals and clinics with multiple symptoms of respiratory distress, breathlessness, choking, cough, chest pain, and hemoptysis. Acute ophthalmic effects were also reported with severe eye irritation and watering of the eyes. 

It was this incident that led to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA). This same chemical has been released on several occasions from the Union Carbide plant in Institnte, West Virginia, shortly after Bhopal and as recently as 1996. Fortnnately, these releases did not affect the surrounding community. 

Protesters in Bhopal, India, rage against the injustice of the Union Carbide plant disaster that poisoned thousands with methyl isocyanate gas. 

The Bhopal disaster (also referred to as the Bhopal gas tragedy) was a gas leak in Bhopal, India, that happened in December of 1984. At the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, methyl isocyanate gas was accidentally released during a manufacturing process. The gas poisoned thousands of people in the surrounding city, most of... 

Chemical warfare can be waged by accident. Such was the case at Bhopal, India, in 1984, when the Union Carbide plant there ran out of control with the result, according to official... 

On the night of December 2, 1984, an accident at the Union Carbide plant in downtown Bhopal, India, caused the release of 40 metric tons of the deadly gas methyl Isocyanate. The cloud of gas spread throughout the city of Bhopal,... 

Institute, West Virginia, US 135 were harmed after a Union Carbide plant emitted a cloud of gaseous aldicarb oxime and methylene chloride after a storage tank malfunction. 

December 3,1988. Bhopal, India. Many describe this event as the world s worst industrial tragedy. During predawn hours at the Union Carbide plant, as much as 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a storage tank at the chemical plant. The gas settled over a 15 square mUe area populated by more than 200,000 people. Local residents call this Devil s Day. The chemical release killed more than 3,000 and injured more than 20,000. Some reports state that over 50,000 people received medical treatment the first day. Many injuries involved damage to eyes and mild to severe pulmonary disorders. Health issues remain 30 years later for many victims. ... 

Intensification, or minimization (principle 1 listed above), consists of reducing the quantities of hazardous chemicals in the plant or combining unit operations (also known as telescoping operations). "What you don t have can t leak" is the bus word. Reduced inventory of methyl isocyante at the Bhopal Union Carbide plant could have reduced the intensity of the accident. 

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