Noise from a leaking pipe warned workers of impending trouble at Simplot Canada’s fertilizer plant in Brandon, Man., last week.
The noise gave workers time to sound the alarm before leaking hydrogen was somehow ignited, spewing flames up to 10 metres long.
The fire occurred Sept. 15 near the hydrogen recovery building of Simplot’s new ammonia plant. The plant, imported from Sicily three years ago, was installed at a cost of $225 million.
“It’s disappointing,” said plant manager Warren Gray about the fire. “But in this business you have to accept that sometimes things don’t always go as you thought.”
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There were no injuries reported. Simplot had its own fire department on the scene immediately, while the Brandon fire department was called in for backup.
The ammonia plant was shut down and hydrogen in the line was allowed to burn off in a controlled manner. What caused the line to leak should be determined later this week, said the plant manager.
“We have some suspicions and some things are being checked,” said Gray, “but it’s confidential at this time.”
The line carrying the hydrogen had been pressure tested before being put into use, said Ian McGregor, a provincial workplace safety and health officer. He noted that it would take little to trigger a fire once the pipe started to leak.
“Hydrogen is very flammable. It’s very easy to ignite.”
Last week’s explosion came one day after Simplot announced the start of production at its upgraded facility. The upgrade had been completed in time to help meet the fall demand for fertilizer.
Simplot Canada believes it will take about three weeks to repair damages caused by the fire. An estimate of costs wasn’t available.
Simplot combines hydrogen and nitrogen to produce anhydrous ammonia, which can then be made into other fertilizer products. The company is using two older plants at its Brandon location to continue fertilizer production.
“Supplies will be fairly tight this fall from this plant because of this,” Gray said.
The fire posed no environmental hazard, said Arvyn Gray of Manitoba Environment. Gray, regional director of environmental operations, was at the scene of the fire.
“Hydrogen burns so clean it wouldn’t create any noxious fumes or anything to that effect,” he said. “It would burn cleaner than alcohol.”
