Freeport LNG gives abstract of root trigger failure evaluation report on 8 June incident

The protection and safety of our workforce and surrounding neighborhood, and environmental stewardship are Freeport LNG’s high priorities. Freeport LNG believes that transparency across the causes of this incident, and the remedial actions it’s taking to make sure an incident of this nature by no means happens once more, is crucial to sustaining public belief.

With that in thoughts, the outcomes of the basis trigger failure evaluation ready by IFO Group are as follows:

Direct Trigger

• Isolation of a piping phase containing cryogenic LNG with out correct over-pressure safety, which LNG then warmed and expanded attributable to publicity to ambient situations, leading to a boiling liquid, increasing vapour explosion, or BLEVE, and the rupturing of the piping phase.

Root causes

• Strain security valve (PSV) testing process and automobile seal program deficiencies.
• Failure to repurpose temperature indicator alarms used for settle down operations throughout commissioning on LNG piping that would warn operators of accelerating temperatures in LNG piping throughout operations.
• Working procedures that allowed operator discretion to shut valves that would permit LNG to be remoted in a piping phase.

Contributing causes

• Failure of 2016 Hazard and Operability research to guage the potential for a blocked-in LNG piping phase with insufficient overpressure safety.
• Failure to utilise administration of change course of for revisions to tank administration working procedures.
• Failure to precisely and well timed diagnose sudden pipe motion as being attributable to piping stresses from the over-pressuring of an adjoining piping phase.
• Operator fatigue because of vital additional time wants.

IFO Group proposed suggestions to resolve every of the above root and contributing causes, and Freeport LNG is implementing every of these suggestions. Particularly, Freeport LNG has made vital enhancements to its PSV testing processes and automobile seal program, carried out procedural adjustments to keep away from working eventualities that would permit blocked-in LNG in piping segments, and revised its management system logic to alert management room operators to valve positions or temperature readings that point out potential isolation of LNG in any piping segments. Freeport LNG can be updating its coaching program to handle causes of the incident, in addition to identification and prognosis of irregular working situations within the facility.

To complement IFO’s report, Freeport LNG additionally engaged one other impartial marketing consultant to carry out a full evaluation of its LNG storage and switch working procedures, its management methods upkeep and inspection procedures, and its personnel {qualifications} and coaching programmes. On account of this impartial, multi-month evaluation, Freeport LNG is implementing numerous advisable enhancements in these areas. Moreover, Freeport LNG has undertaken a big hiring effort to extend LNG plant worker staffing by over 30%, with a view to scale back the quantity of additional time, in addition to create new practical departments inside the organisation which might be targeted on improved coaching, operational excellence, high quality assurance, and improved enterprise efficiency. Freeport LNG can be executing an intensive company-wide course of security administration initiative to use and reinforce course of security ideas into each day work processes throughout the organisation.

Freeport LNG is dedicated to rising from the June 8^th incident with an un-matched give attention to security, operational integrity and operational excellence.

Learn the article on-line at: https://www.lngindustry.com/liquefaction/17112022/freeport-lng-provides-summary-of-root-cause-failure-analysis-report-on-8-june-incident/