Explosion and fire in a gas-oil fixed roof storage tank: Case study and lessons learned

On November 2, 7997, a fixed roof gas-oil tank located in the tank farm of Ashdod Oil Refinery exploded. causing the death of one Sample Man, and a fire in two adjacent tanks located in the same dike. The fire lasted less than,3 hours, but there was significant public concern about the necessity for emergency evacuation from two neighboring settlements. Emergency operations of the refinery and outside services were very effective, and fires in both tanks and the dike were put out without any additional damage to other equipment in the tank faun. The source fire was classified as a heavy top phase pool fire. The investigation pointed out that hydrogen was the source of the explosive mixture in the tank. Hydrogen penetrated the tank as a result of non-complete gas-oil stripping at the exit of a hydrotreating unit. The source of ignition was an electrostatic spark initiated by synthetic rope (instead of a cotton one) used with a device to obtain samples from the tank. After the accident, it was found that a similar scenario was reported about 15 years earlier. However, it was not disseminated widely enough through accident databases.