US EPA

1145045 

Technical Report 

Fire in Methanol Storage Tanks 

Anonymous 

1964 

NIOSH/00127727 

No 

63 

317-319 

A serious explosion and fire involving methanol (67561) storage tanks was reported. The fire affected three storage tanks and one feed tank containing a total of 172,000 gallons of methanol. The explosion took place at a factory that produced formaldehyde (50000). Just before the explosion, a maintenance worker was using oxygen-acetylene equipment to cut bolts from piping which was situated above the entry to the methanol recovery factory. The initial explosion split open the pipe and the flame traveled along the pipe, broke through the flame arrestor, blew off the tops of the three storage tanks, and damaged the roof of the feed tank. After 8 hours, the fire in the feed tank was extinguished as a result of cooling with water, dilution of the methanol with water, and the constant drainage of the tank through the fractured pipe. The fire in the first storage tank was extinguished after 12 hours, and the fires in the other two tanks were extinguished 17 hours after the explosion. The tanks were continuously cooled for the next 3 days. The authors conclude that this incident demonstrates the dangers of interconnecting tanks with pipes above the level of the liquid. He recommends that storage tanks should not have common pipes for liquid recovery or for venting. Also, flame arrestors should be situated near all entry and exit points of pipes containing flammable gases. 

DCN-118734; Fire hazards; Accident analysis; Toxic vapors; Industrial hygiene; Explosive gases; Industrial chemicals; Chemical properties; Explosion damage; Fire fighting