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The Mexico City Explosion of 1984

Nick Chumo Addy Hellebusch Matt Kelley Chris Williams. The Mexico City Explosion of 1984. Introduction. November 19, 1984 San Juanico ; a suburb of Mexico City 20 km outside of Mexico City 40,000 residents Low income families Homes as close as 130m to plant. Plant and “Process”.

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The Mexico City Explosion of 1984

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  1. Nick Chumo AddyHellebusch Matt Kelley Chris Williams The Mexico City Explosion of 1984

  2. Introduction • November 19, 1984 • San Juanico; a suburb of Mexico City • 20 km outside of Mexico City • 40,000 residents • Low income families • Homes as close as 130m to plant

  3. Plant and “Process” • Pemex State Oil Company • Storage & Distribution facility for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) • LPG comes in from 3 different refineries • 54 LPG storage tanks- 16,000m3 • Daily throughput- 5,000m3 • 6 large spherical tanks • 2 largest holding 2400m3 • 48 smaller tanks of various sizes • Built to API Standards

  4. Right Before Explosion • Being filled from a refinery 400km away • 11,000m3 LPG on site • Fall in pressure • The cause of the pressure drop was unidentified • no one initiated emergency shutdown

  5. Pemex Before

  6. Pemex After

  7. What Happened • One of the deadliest industrial disasters in world history • The initial vapor cloud explosion was the start of a chain reaction of explosions • There were 19 explosions • 15 cylindrical tanks • The 4 smaller spheres • Many of the explosions were BLEVEs • The relative times can be told from seismic readings

  8. What Happened cont. • Most of the damage to the city was from fires not the explosions • Fragments from the tanks reached over 1,200 m away • The fragments were hot enough to start fires • Pieces trailed raining LPG as they flew • A concentrated rescue effort was put into action with 3000 rescuers on site • 200 firefighters risked their lives

  9. Accident Timeline • 5:30am Rupture of 8 in. pipe; Pressure drop in control room • 5:40am Ignition of gas cloud; Violent combustion and high flame • 5:45am First explosion on seismograph, a BLEVE; Fire department called • 5:46am Second BLEVE, one of the most violent • 6:00am Police alerted and civilian traffic stopped • 6:30am Traffic chaos

  10. Accident Timeline cont. • 7:01am Last explosion on seismograph, a BLEVE • 7:30am Continuing tank explosions • 8-10:00am Rescue work at its height • 11:00am Last tank explosion • 12-6:00pm Rescue work continues • 11:00pm Flames extinguished on last large sphere • 10:00am Last fires put out (next day)

  11. Root Causes • Official cause of rupture is unknown • One report cited • Overfilled tank caused the inlet line to rupture • Failure of relief valve

  12. Results • 500-600 deaths; 300+ never identified • 5000-7000 severe injuries • 10,000-60,000 people made homeless • 31 million dollars of damages • Destruction of 1/3 of the LPG supply to Mexico City

  13. Results

  14. Results

  15. Future Preventions • Timely inspections • Maintain industrial standards • Better maintenance • Effective operator training • Housing appropriate distance away

  16. Future Preventions cont. • Proper layout of large LPG storages • Gas detection and emergency isolation • Water system failures • Extra water hydrants in the streets • Planned evacuation routes

  17. Summary • This deadly disaster struck the morning of November 19, 1984 • Lasted from 5:30am till 10:00am the next day • Left hundreds dead and thousands injured and homeless • Many lessons can be learned from the tragedy

  18. Questions?

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