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Incidents with
Biodiesel:
In light of two recent incidents with
biodiesel (information below), we are requesting that all facilities that
might have biodiesel on site or brought on site immediately put into place
the following practices:
1) 55 gallon drum marked Biodiesel Rags
Only, filled with enough water to cover the saturated rags (pictures
below), and
2) Proper signage at all loading and
unloading points indicating biodiesel rags need to be placed in the proper
container.
Hartford Terminal, IL
– April 21, 2007
A Hartford Terminal Operator was notified
of smoke coming from the bed of the terminal truck. He went out and
investigated the source of the smoke and discovered a rag that was
smoldering. The rag was previously used during the gauging of the
Bio-Diesel Tanks. The employee quickly threw a bucket of water on the rag
and smoldering fire was put out. There were no injuries or damage to the
vehicle.
Farm and Home Oil
Company, Macungie, PA – July 16, 2007
A fire broke out at a Farm and Home Oil
Company warehouse next to Buckeye pipeline. The fire was a result of
saturated rags stored in a container inside the facility. The rags
saturated with biodiesel caused a chemical reaction that released heat,
hot enough to start the fire. No one was injured, but there was some
property damage to the warehouse. Buckeye leases space in this warehouse
for storage.
Prevention:
In order to keep these types of incidents
to a minimum everyone should be taking the following actions, in addition
to the ones above:
1)
Conduct a facility audit for biodiesel exposure, locations of
loading/unloading and the proper location for the biodiesel disposal
drum.
2)
Discuss the hazards of biodiesel with all employees and visitors to
the facility that might be impacted by biodiesel.
3)
Improve housekeeping at all facilities especially those areas where
biodiesel might be present to limit the exposure to fire and/or damage in
the event of a fire.
Biodiesel Rag Containment
 
Policy and Procedures:
Operations Services will be
formalizing a standard policy that will include the safe handling of
product soaked rags as well as best practice recommendations for
preventing spontaneous combustions. Additional training on Spontaneous
Combustion will also be forth coming.
Additional Information
Some additional information on
Spontaneous Combustion including an experiment with pictures and graphs
can be found by following the link below:
Spontaneous Combustion |
