Posted on 12/25/2003 5:06:13 AM PST by yonif
Chinese officials say an accident at a natural gas field in southwest China has killed at least 191 people. The official Xinhua news agency says hundreds of others were injured by an explosion and the release of toxic fumes at the Chuandongbei gas field in Chongqing's Kaixian county.
Authorities have not said what may have caused Tuesday's blast. Officials say a gas well burst without warning, releasing a high concentration of natural gas and sulfurated hydrogen at least 30 meters into the air.
Hospitals in the area are filled with casualties. Authorities evacuated residents within five kilometers of the well.
President Hu Jintao and other Chinese officials urged local authorities to spare no effort to rescue other victims, and stop more of the poisonous gas from leaking. Beijing has sent a team of officials to coordinate rescue and recovery efforts.
The gas field is owned by the China National Petroleum Corporation.
In early reports, Xinhua reported only eight people had been killed. The toll then jumped to 133, and has been revised upward since then.
So9
They're fairly common in my house. Just have to open a window for a few minutes, vacate the premises. Potpouri helps, too.
I've been a roughneck,roustabout,etc. and "poison" gas is all I'm used to calling H2S.
I can think of a number of places that have poison gas wells in towns,not to mention what could be done with good "flowing" wells or pipelines,as they have done in Kuwait and Iraq.
I started in the shallow oil fields in N.Okla. and S.Ks. in the early 70s.We had a lot of older equipment in that area when I worked there.I even worked on a couple of cable-tools,also "Arkansaw" jacks were common along with powerhouses and rodlines.
Later,I worked out of the Healdton,Ratliff City,Okla. area and N.Texas.When I began work there,the older men I knew said my experience in the shallow fields farther North was how they had worked at least 30 to 40 years previously.
Both sides of the Red River have been my stompin'grounds,on and off,for many years.I was born in Ardmore,Okla. and my Dad and Grandad were both Sinclair Pipeline men.I was the only one of my family that worked in production but I live on the Red River now and most of my friends have been in the oilpatch at sometime,if not all their lives.
I lived about 200 feet South of a poison gas well for about 8 years,besides working on some and now am having some crazy physical problems(total blackouts "very" often but otherwise very stronge and healthy)that my wife thinks "could" be related but we have no way of knowing.The blackouts happen if I cough,sneeze or even laugh at times and will deck me,then I'm fine within a minute or two but sometimes cause me to convulse like someone with epilepsy.
I asked my family just now if "sour" was familiar to them and they said if they had heard the term,it would have only been from me,and then rarely.It does seem strange that "sour" isn't more familiar to me,as I've worked with hands from everywhere.
(steely)
HYDROGEN SULFIDE
CAS Registry Number: 7783-06-4 H2S
Molecular Formula: H2S
Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless, flammable, poisonous gas with a rotten eggs odor. It burns in air with a pale blue flame. Hydrogen sulfide gas corrodes metals. Hydrogen sulfide is soluble in water, alcohol, ether, and glycerol. Water solutions of hydrogen sulfide are not stable, and because absorbed oxygen causes the formation of elemental sulfur, the solutions become turbid (Merck, 1989). The liquid form is stable at room temperature.
Physical Properties of Hydrogen Sulfide
Synonyms: sewer gas; stink damp; sulfurated hydrogen; sulfur hydride; hydrogen sulfuric acid
Molecular Weight: 34.08
Boiling Point: -60.4 oC
Melting Point: -85.5 oC
Density/Specific Gravity: 1.539 g/L at 0 oC (water = 1)
Vapor Pressure: 20 atm at 25.5 oC
Vapor Density: 1.189 (air = 1)
Autoignition Temperature: 260 oC
Conversion Factor: 1 ppm = 1.39 mg/m3
(Merck, 1989; Sax, 1989)
What the description of H2S is failing to say is that it desensitizes the membranes in the nose very rapidly.
You only smell the rotten egg smell for a few seconds before you're unconscious if concentrations exceed about ten ppm.
What they don't say in the article is whether this was a drilling well or a producing well.
In either case, H2S causes hydrogen embrittlement in steel products. This is the replacement of the Fe with an H2 which weakens the tensile and bursting strength of any steel products in the well and causes it to become brittle.
The higher the Brinell hardness factor the more susceptible it is to hydrogen embrittlement.
We use soft alloy products, like chrome alloys or soft steel, to alleviate this effect.
Ordinary respirators do no good at all in a H2S environment.
A full, closed oxygen pack is required.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.