The Piper Alpha disaster, occurring on July 6, 1988, resulted from a series of maintenance and procedural failures, leading to an explosion that claimed the lives of 167 individuals and caused $3.4 billion in property damage. Key failures included inadequate safety measures, poor design of the control room, and management oversight during maintenance operations. The event underscores the importance of rigorous safety protocols and training to prevent such catastrophic incidents in the oil and gas industry.

1. Done By: Ahmad Taweel
Piper Alpha Disaster
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2. Outline
 About Piper Alpha Platform
 The Happening Event Timeline
 Cause of the Disaster
 Effect of the Disaster
 Key Failures
 Improvement and Prevention
 Conclusion
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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
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4. About Piper Alpha (2/5)
 located in:
 British sector
 North Sea oil field
 120 miles Aberdeen
Scotland
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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
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6. About Piper Alpha (4/5)
Tartan, Claymore, and MCP-01 platfor
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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12. The happening Event Timeline
(5/6)
 10:30 PM:
 Tharos attempted to assist Piper Alpha
 Burst of MCP-01
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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
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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
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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
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16. Key Failures
 Design Failures
 Management
Failures
 Procedural Failures
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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24. Procedural Failures (2/3)
 Evacuation protocols broke downː
 The radio and control room were not functional
 Personnel were alarmed
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25. Procedural Failures (3/3)
 Firefighting system was set to manualː
 Manual activation
 Inaccessible
 No way to fight the fire
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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
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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
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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
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29. Thank You
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