#Crystal Maker Crack drivers#
#Crystal Maker Crack driver#

The CSB found that the Illinois Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Safety вЂ“ after incorrectly designating the NDK vessels for non-corrosive service вЂ“ did not conduct internal inspections.

Had NDK conducted regular inspections, it would have discovered that the acmite coating was not protecting the vessel walls.вЂќ Stress corrosion cracking was the likely failure mechanism that caused the cracks.

The cracks reduced the vessel material toughness, which eventually led to large flaws resulting in the catastrophic failure. Yet despite warnings that in fact corrosion might be occurring, resulting in a phenomenon known as stress corrosion cracking, or SCC, NDK continued to operate the vessels without performing the recommended inspections.Д¬SB lead investigator Johnnie Banks said, вЂњAfter a review of the metallurgical testing data, the CSB found strong evidence of cracking on and near the inner diameter of the vessel fragment. The resulting reaction with the steel vessels formed a layer of iron silicate, called acmite, on the inside of the vessel walls, which the company believed would protect the vessels from corrosion. In the CSB case study on the accident, investigators note that raw mined quartz, or silica, was mixed with a corrosive sodium hydroxide solution at high pressures and temperatures. But NDK never established an internal vessel inspection program and did not perform testing on the vessels before returning them to service.

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The insurance consultant cautioned вЂњfar more catastrophic scenarios are possible,вЂќ specifically naming danger of public death or injury at the gas station where the truck driver would be killed in 2009. The consultant concluded the accident resulted from the vesselвЂ™s improper design, fabrication and material selection, determined four vessels were experiencing stress corrosion cracking, and advised against returning any of the facilityвЂ™s eight vessels into service. The CSB found that had NDK Crystal ignored a direct warning by a third-party safety auditor called in by its insurance carrier following an uncontrolled leak of hot, caustic material in January 2007 from the lid of another similar pressure vessel. This set in motion a near-inevitable catastrophe.вЂќ The manufacturer of the vessels вЂ“ including the one that exploded years later вЂ“ recommended annual inspections, but neither NDK nor the state performed the inspections. In doing so, the vessels were incorrectly put into вЂњnon-corrosiveвЂќ service. Because the vessels did not meet requirements of the widely recognized national pressure vessel code, the State of Illinois allowed installation of three of the vessels under a special exemption. Another piece вЂ“ a vessel fragment weighing over 8,000 pounds - tore through a wall at the facility, skipped across a neighboring parking lot and struck the wall of an automotive supply company where 70 people were working but only one was injured.Д¬SB Chairperson Rafael Moure-Eraso said, вЂњOver the years, NDK ignored safety recommendations and warnings that it should regularly inspect the interior walls of the vessels.

One piece of steel from the building was blown 650 feet, striking the driver who was walking back to his vehicle. CSB videos may be viewed at or The violent rupture occurred in the Number 2 vessel which was growing synthetic quartz crystals at extremely high pressure and temperature. The CSB also scheduled for release a safety video on the accident entitled вЂњFalling through the Cracks,вЂќ which utilizes a computer animation to depict the sequence of events and investigation findings. The report вЂ“ a CSB Case Study вЂ“ was unanimously approved by the CSB board board at a public meeting in Rockford, IL. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and set for consideration at a public meeting to be held in Rockford, Illinois, today, a few miles from the facility. The findings were released in a draft investigation report from the U.S. Rockford, Illinois, November 14, 2013-An explosion which occurred December 7, 2009, at the NDK Crystal manufacturing company in Belvidere, Illinois, fatally injuring a truck driver at a nearby gas station on the Illinois Tollway, resulted from corrosion in the walls of a pressure vessel, which went uninspected for years.

Emergency Planning and Response (Preparedness).

Process Safety Management for the 21st Century.

#Crystal Maker Crack drivers#

Drivers of Critical Chemical Safety Change.CSB Budget Requests and Strategic Plans.