Capsized barge in Texas port, may explode

Fox News Channel | November 6, 2003

[Amelia]

You know what I love about Free Republic...? No matter what the incident/crime/high wierdness, there is always somewhere a FReeper who actually has worked in the area being discussed....

Dittos!

[Fred Hayek]

If it is concentrated (>96%, maybe more) sulfuric acid, carbon steel works just fine. It's the lower concentrations, when it is ionized, when you have problems. Typically for a concentrated sulfuric acid tank the material would be carbon steel. If it is less than concentrated there would likely be a heavy epoxy coating in the tank. In the Houston Ship Channel area a likely use for H2SO4 would be in alkylation units in refineries.

[No Blue States]

The only thing i can think of that might flip it over would be the wake from one of the large ships.
I remember fishing on the TC dyke once and an 8-10' wave from a big ship travelled all the way down the dyke moshing alot of fishermen..It pretty was funny actually.
We avoided it by being on a dock where the top of the waves passed a foot or 2 under us.
Maybe a wave like that broadsided the barge?

[No Blue States]

I worry about the effect this will have on my fishing holes, once the danger to humans is contained.

[stboz]

You do have a sense for the dramatic!

[TexasCajun]

I've seen a great domumentary on the History Channel of the 1947 explosions. Lots of good film footage and interviews.

[null and void]

Wow! A tip of the hat to Stephanie Kwolek! Kevlar and liquid crystals in one swelled foop!

[Eva]

The barge most likely has separate tanks which need to be loaded equally to maintain balance, like a tanker. This was nothing but human error.

[spunkets]

Yes a compact protective salt film forms on carbon steel in con sulphuric acid. As long as there's no water, the film doesn't dissolve. There is a corrosion rate of ~20 mils/year though. I was just assuming a 308 stainless would be cheap enough to relieve headaches.

They probably have some sea water in there. I'd hate to be nearby if that thing dumps. There will be quite a boil over. A long time ago I worked for a company with a division that had a 2500gal carbon steel tank holding con sulfuric inside the plant and in a hallway with offices along it. Idiots ran it. It ruptured, because of poor maintainance and contamination...pits and tunnels along welded seams. ~ 1000 gals of con acid ran across the floor, into all the sales and accounting offices in addition to the plant area. no one was killed, or seriously injured. They repaired it and within one year they did it again. Needless to say, except for the idiots, they had a high turnover rate and of course product rarely went out the door.

[null and void]

Sadly, there seems to be no shortage of idjits.

[montag813]

Just caught the tail end of the report. Apparently, there is a capsized barge in a Texas port (didn't get the port's name). According to the Coast Guard, there are chemicals on board that, if mixed, will detonate.

Sounds like a combo of the plot lines of "Daylight" and "XXX"

[kinghorse]

you should change your handle to sleuth sloth.

[Sloth]

My condolences on having seen both.

[Squantos]

Probably the same folks that run a shrimping fleet out of Lubbock

That's an awful long dock ain't it Flyer ?:o)

Stay safe !

[Squantos]

LMAO.....Say "shouldn't ship such" fast three times.......Stay Safe !

[Fred Hayek]

My experience with the H2SO4 has been in alkylation units in refineries. Carbon steel is used for piping as long as the velocity is under ~1 foot per second. After that there are erosion problems, where Alloy 20 is required (consider piping elbows). Alloy 20 is also used on valve trim, although I have also used some Hastelloy C valves on oleum tank car loading. Another thing with oleum is the viscosity is up there (possibly contributing to the erosion issue), around 25 centipoise.

[deport]

The following is an article from the Texas City Sun and indicates the barge was being brought into the docks by tugs when it capized and flipped. So apparently it was already loaded and was being brought in for off loading.... They claim they hadn't even hooked up to the barge when the events occurred. So all the speculation about the loading at the dock isn't work the keystrokes it took to type them it appears.....

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Barge flips at Sterling Chemical

By Lisa Ray
Texas City Sun

Published November 04, 2003

A barge carrying sulfuric acid flipped over in Sterling Chemical’s number two dock Monday night.

Sterling plant manager Walter Treybig, said “there were no leaks or spills” in the incident.

The company does not know the reason for the accident, classified as a level one emergency, and has decided to wait until daylight to right the barge.

A level-one emergency is one in which officials believe the substance will be confined to the company’s property and not released into the community.

“We hadn’t hooked up to (the barge) yet,” Treybig said Monday night.

There were no people on the barge, and no one was hurt in the accident, according to Treybig.

Treybig said the U.S. Coast Guard had been contacted.

The barge was secured at the plant and is being monitored, Treybig said.

Treybig said Sterling did not anticipate any leaks or spill to occur after the barge was secured.

The area where the barge flipped is “closed to the public,” Treybig said.

Treybig said the barge was being delivered to Sterling Chemical, by the Martin Gas company.

The barge which was pulled by a tug boat was “having problems,” Treybig said.

Treybig didn’t say what those problems were. He said the tugs were bringing the barge into the dock when it flipped, Treybig said.

“I don’t know why it flipped,” Treybig said.

According to Treybig, the plant is “trying to decide” what to do about the barge.

The plant and the Coast Guard are “wait(ing) until daylight so see what goes on,” Treybig said.

Sulfuric acid is a highly corrosive chemical that is colorless and odorless.

Lisa Ray is a reporter for the Texas City Sun. She can be reached at (409)945-3441, ext. 35. Or by e-mail at lisa.ray@texascitysun.com.