CSB releases Barton Solvents safety video

01 October 2008

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a case study and safety video on the July 2007 explosion and fire at the Barton Solvents distribution facility in Valley Center, Kansas. The CSB found the most likely cause of the explosion – involving what is known as a non-conductive flammable liquid – was a static spark resulting from a loosely-linked levelmeasuring float within the tank. The spark ignited the air-vapour mixture inside the tank as it was being filled.

Non-conductive flammable liquids can accumulate and maintain static electrical energy which discharges more slowly than from more conductive liquids. In addition, some of these liquids can form ignitable vapour-air mixtures inside storage tanks, which can explode if a spark occurs.

CSB has released a ten-minute safety video which features a computer animation depicting the sequence of events that led to the explosion and fire.

The July 17, 2007 explosion and fire led to the evacuation of 6,000 residents. CSB investigators found that on the day of the accident a tanker-trailer arrived to transfer Varnish Maker's and Painter's Naphtha into a
storage tank. The CSB determined that the transfer equipment from the truck tanker to the storage tank likely was properly bonded and grounded to prevent the generation of static electricity. However, they also found
that the float device inside the 15,000 gallon storage tank presented a hidden danger.

The US Chemical Safety Board (CSB) has released a case study and safety video on the July 2007 explosion and fire at the Barton Solvents distribution facility in Valley Center, Kansas. The CSB found the most likely cause of the explosion – involving what is known as a non-conductive flammable liquid – was a static spark resulting from a loosely-linked levelmeasuring float within the tank. The spark ignited the air-vapour mixture inside the tank as it was being filled.

Non-conductive flammable liquids can accumulate and maintain static electrical energy which discharges more slowly than from more conductive liquids. In addition, some of these liquids can form ignitable vapour-air mixtures inside storage tanks, which can explode if a spark occurs.

CSB has released a ten-minute safety video which features a computer animation depicting the sequence of events that led to the explosion and fire.