Project Profile
Industrial Accident: Steam Release From DCS
Controlled Process Piping Purge System
Controlled Process Piping Purge System
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Industrial Accident: Inadvertent steam release during an automated process piping purge at a petrochemical plant. The steam purge required manual activation of valves that were monitored by the DCS while being operated by field personnel.
The forensic examination revealed a flaw in related DCS programming released steam directly onto the field staff operating a manual purge valve. The program error was introduced during a relatively minor software change performed by an unlicensed programmer working on behalf of a subcontractor.
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