Posted on 05/03/2008 4:21:36 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
REDWOOD, Miss. (AP) - A county sheriff says an explosion at a paper mill has killed two people and left nearly a dozen missing.
Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace confirmed the deaths Saturday at the International Paper mill in Redwood.
He told WJTV in Jackson that nearly a dozen people are missing and nearly 20 others are injured. The mill employs about 300 people in and around Warren County.
The county is west of Jackson.
http://www.wjtv.com/gulfcoastwest/jtv/news.apx.-content-articles-JTV-2008-05-03-0009.html
...International Paper is located on Highway 3 in Redwood, Mississippi. Officers from the Warren County Sheriff’s Dept., Vicksburg Fire Dept., and IP security are responding to the explosion. The IP mill in Warren County employs about 300 people in and around the Warren County area.
IP employees tell us nearly a dozen people are missing... and nearly 20 others are injured. There are also reports that at least two people were killed in the blast.
I work in a paper mill and compete for business with IP.
This is an absolute disaster for any mill.
Wow.
It is.
I print a LOT of IP paper (RR Donnelley)
I am at a loss for trying to understand what would be so volatile at a paper mill. Steam Boiler maybe?
Update;
One person killed.
All employees accounted for.
Some contract persons unaccounted for.
Per FNC.
The main hazardous substance at paper mills would have been chlorine; but that has been almost phased out, I think.
Maybe something connected with the drying of the web?
My mom works for IP in Washington state. Sadly people get hurt on the job in these mills all the time, but explosions aren’t really common place.
I’m betting the recovery boiler, but I haven’t seen any reports say yet.
I have a brother that works at the Cedar Springs mill in Ga.
I’m not sure that chlorine would be so much of an explosion hazard as an inhalation hazard in case of a leak.
Most mills have their own power generating boilers; the recovery boiler burns concentrated liquid (”liquor”) left over from cooking the wood chips and creates steam for cooking and drying paper, as well as recovering cooking chemicals for reuse.
Simplified explanation: the boilers burn the liquor, and have tubes running through them filled with water which turns to steam. If a steam tube springs a leak, especially in certain parts of the boiler, the expansion of the water as it turns into steam can cause an explosion hazard.
In addition, the chips are cooked in high pressure digesters (basically huge pressure cookers), and the paper is dried on rollers filled with steam - either of those could explode, but I’d think it less likely.
And steam is used to heat the dryer cans in the paper machines. These ‘cans’ dry the paper as it is finished.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080503/NEWS/80503010
1 killed, 17 hurt in paper mill blast
.Which one?
I was due to go the Lancaster plant last week but didn't.
And I've been to Donnelley in Crawfordsville, IN.
Boiler house, pulp mill, the paper machines themselves, etc.
The paper mill in my home town. I worked there at one time and all my in-laws work there now. My father-in-law retired from there as did his father. I know paper.
http://www.smurfit.com:8080/asp/locateus.asp?s=loc&id=1056
Thought to myself...this guy knows about papermaking.
We’re one of the new acquisitions (Banta) - a sheetfed operation in Johnson City, Tenn.
Company was originally started by some Quebcorp (Arcata - Kingsport Press) guys who got downsized. They grew a successful business that they sold to Banta and then RRD got us all.
Yes, but I’m thinking if the mill has about 300 employees, and 20 got hurt at one time, it’s probably the recovery boiler. What do you think?
Recovery boiler startup, according to the Jackson newspaper.
I have done a good bit of controls work in that very mill.
Sad...
Once again - so many knowledgeable people on this site.
Boiler house, pulp mill, the paper machines themselves, etc.
I’ve seen Yankee dryers blowup and they look like bombs have gone off. I our business the Yankee’s are single cast and if you get a weak spot you have a problem.
Pressman? My gf almost got killed at our local Donneleys.
when one of those rolls came off a stack after a sloppy tow
truck operator messed up
Those rolls are huge as you know
She then moved to solvent recovery,
They use a lot of ammonia in paper mills I think to bleach
not that would cause a explosion
No. I schedule our bindery operations. We are strictly sheetfed; so no danger from those huge rolls that the webs use.
There are LOTS and LOTS of things in a pulp and paper mill that have the potential to explode. Boilers, digesters, other high pressure vessels, just to name a few. Safety is highly emphasized and working safe is pounded into everyone. But sometimes ... things go wrong.
Thanks for the Ping, Pandy! Prayers up!
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My dh works for IP but not in a mill. I don’t know what caused this tragedy but I do know that at one mill in Russia, the IP owned mill there is the provider of hot water for the town. When they have to do maintenance shut downs, the town has no hot water. Something’s heating it. Maybe it depends on the mill.
Ping.
What do you do there, andy? My pa-in-law was a supervisor in the bag manufacturing mill. One of my brother-in-laws is a tour foreman in the powerhouse and the other is a maintenance technician.
1 killed, 17 hurt in blast
Explosion occurs at International Paper Co. plant in Warren County
Looks like I was correct about it being the recovery boiler.
I am surprised that it happened on a startup.
Thankfully, we are not making newsprint!
:)
I saw some video on Fox this morning. Some of the wall sheeting of the boiler house was blown loose. Just speculating here, but if the black liquor which is used for fuel in a recovery boiler had too much water in it, it could have caused a steam explosion. Or maybe a tube blew and let some water into the smelt puddle at the bottom of the firebox.
Startups are always where someone gets hurt, in my experience. Management’s in a big hurry to get back into production and are screaming about it. Things are not in a steady state. Testing motors, systems, etc.
Yes. I saw that y’all got out of the newsprint biz years ago from your website. My mill does linerboard and kraft bag paper.
This realignment of the news business is causing some good people in the papermaking business to have to change careers. I care not about the jobs losses at the LA Times, or Newsweek or whatever. But I’m saddened by the job losses in the paper industry. They’re good people.
And in addition to "bias equals layoffs," I place much of the blame for print media insolvency squarely at the feet of unionized labor.
They priced themselves right out of a job.
Someday I'll tell you the story of the strike we had in 2001.
It was a bloodbath...
I’m betting on the tube blowing scenario, although usually on shutdowns they’re replacing the ones that are worn - they might have missed one...you’re right about the rush on startups.
Wonder how long they’d been down, and if it was an annual shutdown, or done because of recovery problems?
Why didn't the pressure relief valves blow off? When was the last time they were inspected and rebuilt?
ASME Section I also allows more than one PRV on a boiler. Additionally, there are many Section I and Section VIII PRVs upstream and downstream of the pressure vessel. This is why you seldom hear of boiler explosions anymore.
Wonder when the last time an inspector came through the power house?
I haven’t worked in a mill for about 15 years now, so this may be a little off, but I’m sure someone will come along and correct me if I’m wrong.
With a recovery boiler, how dangerous the leak is, and whether or not the PRV can totally compensate, will depend on the size and location of the leak. If the leak is small and high in the boiler, there’s probably not much problem, but if it’s large and/or low (close to the smelt bed) it’s a BIG problem.
If this was an annual outage and/or they were doing major repair work on the boiler, there should have been an inspector there within the past week, I would think. There also should have been a leak check on the tubes before putting the fire in. That’s why I’m a little surprised it happened on a startup.
That scenario is logical. Perhaps a waterwall tube on the side of the firebox area. I've seen tubes blow on startup or start leaking that weren't leaking before. All the contraction and expansion loosened where the tubes are seated into their drum. Gotta heat them up slowly and evenly.
One other thought - and I would need input on this one - could the black liquor concentrate have somehow gotten a slug of water in it that vaporized when injected into the firebox? Or could the liquor have too high a water content? IIRC, the boilers are lit off using natural gas until they get up to temp. At least that's how it was 40 years ago when I saw it done. Then after everything's good and hot, they start pumping in the liquor concentrate. Now suppose the liquor storage tank they started pumping from has cooled for several days and some water condensed out. Then pure water is injected into a hot firebox.
Is that a possibility?
The causes of furnace explosions have been:
1. Reaction between water and molten smelt.
2. Reaction between low solids liquor and molten smelt.
3. Uncontrolled ignition of an accumulation of unburned fuel from the auxiliary burners.
4. Uncontrolled ignition of an accumulation of unburned gases from pyrolyzed black liquor.
Also talked to a retired recovery boiler operator, who hypothesizes that this explosion was caused by one of the latter two reasons; he thinks the boiler wasn't adequately purged before startup.
ABB, notice that liquor with too high a water content is also a major reason for boiler explosions.
Once we get down to the bottom of this, I guarantee, someone, somewhere skipped a safety step. I’ve seen it happen. Some white hat’s ass was on fire to get the boiler back up and running and stampeded people into doing something stupid.
In our little construction company we do quite a bit of work with cranes - hanging cyclone collectors and ductwork and such. Fortunately, one of the co-owners of the company has enough gray hair and sense to shut a lift down if he ain’t satisfied. He’s one of the better riggers I’ve ever seen. When he rigs it, and the load comes up off the ground, it’s level and ready to place when it gets to where it’s going. And he’s got enough sack to tell a plant manager he won’t do something if it isn’t safe.
From time to time I go look at the video of the Big Blue crane wreck in Minneapolis in 2000. All you have to see is the flag on the crane jib standing out straight in the wind to know someone pushed too hard to make the lift in windy conditions.
People died. And it damn sure messed up the schedule, too.
And now look at Vicksburg. Their outage is going to last God knows how long.
Someone needs to be fired pretty damn quick.
You’re quite possibly (probably even) correct, although I have seen a couple of things caused by lower level people thinking they could circumvent the safety rules just this time, do it the “easy way” and get away with it...
Even if that’s the case, there’s a good case to be made that proper supervision and training would prevent the accident, so it’s gonna come back to the white hats, I think.
Sounds like you’ve got a great boss. There’s a lot to be said for “gray hair and sense” — and a lot of sack!
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080505/NEWS/805050335/1001/news
4 blast victims critical
Cause of deadly explosion at International Paper mill near Vicksburg undetermined
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