About Piper Alpha Platform The Happening Event Timeline Cause of the Disaster Effect of the Disaster Key Failures Improvement and Prevention Conclusion

1. Done By: Ahmad Taweel
Piper Alpha Disaster
1

2. Outline
 About Piper Alpha Platform
 The Happening Event Timeline
 Cause of the Disaster
 Effect of the Disaster
 Key Failures
 Improvement and Prevention
 Conclusion
2

3. About Piper Alpha (1/5)
 It was discovered in 1973 by Occidental
Petroleum (Caledonia)
 In 1975 Piper Alpha Oil Rig was constructed
 On July 6th 1988, an explosion of the
Piper Alpha platform
3

4. About Piper Alpha (2/5)
 located in:
 British sector
 North Sea oil field
 120 miles Aberdeen
Scotland
4

5. About Piper Alpha (3/5)
 In 1976 platform started
production of oil.
 In 1978 Piper Alpha was
modified to process and
export the natural gas to
comply with UK gas
conservation
requirements
5

6. About Piper Alpha (4/5)
Tartan, Claymore, and MCP-01 platfor
6

7. About Piper Alpha (5/5)
 The Flotta oil terminal in the Orkney Islands will
receive and process oil in these fields.
 MCP-01 compression platform
 226 workmen
 It is the major Northern Sea Oil and Gas for
drilling and production that time
Tartan, Claymore, and MCP-01 platfor
7

8. The happening Event Timeline
(1/6)
 12 noon - 6:00 PM:
 Pump A Failed
 Removed safety valve
 Maintenance
 Replaced by blind flange
 Permit that the Pump A wont be working till 6:pm
8

9. The happening Event Timeline
(2/6)
 9:45 PM - 10:00 PM:
 Pump B fails
 Pump A permit
 Pump A activated
 Gas leak
 Explosion
9

10. The happening Event Timeline
(3/6)
 10:04 PM:
 Evacuation started
 Emergency shutdown activated
 Firefighting system inaccessible since it is in the
control room
 Gathered on the deck
10

11. The happening Event Timeline
(4/6)
 10:20 PM:
 Tartan and Claymore platforms oil pipeline
connected to Piper Alpha supplied more oil to the
fire
 Tartan and Claymore platforms gas pipeline
connected to Piper Alpha bursts and leaked gas
 Causing Explosion
11

12. The happening Event Timeline
(5/6)
 10:30 PM:
 Tharos attempted to assist Piper Alpha
 Burst of MCP-01
12

13. The happening Event Timeline
(6/6)
 11:20 PM:
 Final gas pipeline burst
 Block were platform members gathered falls into the
sea
 Rest of the platform continued falling
13

14. Cause of the disaster
 Safety valve on Pump A was replaced by blind
flange for maintenance
 Crew members reactivated Pump A
 Leaking
 Explosions
 Emergency Shutdown system failed
 Fire intensified
 Helicopters couldn’t help
14

15. Effect of the disaster
 165 workmen dead (out of 226)
 2 men from the rescue boat
 US$ 3.4 billion cost in property damage
 100 kg of hydrocarbons loss
 61 survivor
 Bad injuries
 Loss body parts
15

16. Key Failures
 Design Failures
 Management
Failures
 Procedural Failures
16

17. Design Failures (1/4)
 Firewalls between modules not upgraded to blast
proof tilesː
 The fire barriers (tiles) between modules were not
upgraded
 When the initial explosion occurred in module C, the
tiles acted as shrapnel and caused damage to
modules B and D
17

18. Design Failures (2/4)
 Control room adjacent to gas compression
moduleː
 Adjacent to module C without proper shielding
 Failure in module C cause damage to the control
room
18

19. Design Failures (3/4)
 Primary supply lines from other oil rigs permitted
backflowː
 Main supply lines on Piper Alpha failed
 Piper Alpha could not stop the flow itself
 Supply lines from the Tartan and Claymore
platforms fed Piper Alpha's fire
19

20. Design Failures (4/4)
 Tharos rescue vessel design flawsː
 Evacuation gangwayː
 Couldn’t extended enough to rescue all personnel
 Fire pump issuesː
 The pumps became flooded, needed 10 minutes to restart
 Fire pumps too powerful for personnelː
 Too powerful to use while personnel on board
20

21. Management Failures (1/2)
 Normal operation during major construction,
maintenance, and upgradesː
 The safety valve maintenance wasn’t finished, and
they didn’t noticed the blind flange plate
21

22. Management Failures (2/2)
 Oil feeds from Tartan and Claymore weren’t
shut off until too lateː
 Supervisors
 noticed the fire
 didn’t know the damage
 Didn’t know if they have the authority to shut down
production on their platforms
22

23. Procedural Failures (1/3)
 Engineer neglected to inform on-duty
custodian of Pump A’s conditionː
 Custodian wasn’t informed that the safety valve had
been removed from Pump A
23

24. Procedural Failures (2/3)
 Evacuation protocols broke downː
 The radio and control room were not functional
 Personnel were alarmed
24

25. Procedural Failures (3/3)
 Firefighting system was set to manualː
 Manual activation
 Inaccessible
 No way to fight the fire
25

26. Improvement and Prevention
 Safety training
 Emergency response training
 How to respond to emergencies
 Active and passive fire protection systems
 Secondary escape equipment’s
 Provide annual safety training
26

27. Conclusion (1/2)
 Most tragic gas and oil accident
 Errors and questionable decisions
 Initial leak was the result of poor maintenance
procedures
 Improper structural design
27

28. Conclusion (2/2)
 Companies’ management should not aim to
save more money
 Understaffed facilities
 Less experienced operators
 Companies’ responsibilities to subject their
employees on
 Safety training
 Emergency response training
28

29. Thank You
29