Little General Store Propane Explosion - US Chemical Safety and ...
Little General Store Propane Explosion - US Chemical Safety and ...
Little General Store Propane Explosion - US Chemical Safety and ...
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<strong>Little</strong> <strong>General</strong> <strong>Store</strong> September 2008<br />
5.0 Incident <strong>and</strong> Emergency Response Analysis<br />
5.1 Liquid Withdrawal Valve<br />
Liquid withdrawal valves are rarely used. Technicians only open them when tanks must be completely<br />
emptied of liquid. The liquid withdrawal valves on most propane tanks may never be used. At <strong>Little</strong><br />
<strong>General</strong>, the day of the incident was either the first or the second time that the plug had been removed<br />
from the liquid withdrawal valve in the tank’s 19 years of propane service.<br />
When the junior technician removed the plug from the liquid withdrawal valve, liquid propane released<br />
uncontrollably. The plug, though, has a telltale drilled through the threaded portion (Figure 7) which<br />
should have released a small stream of propane once the plug was partially backed out. This should have<br />
alerted the technician that the valve was leaking.<br />
Figure 7. Incident valve plug (Telltale circled).<br />
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