PIPER ALPHA OIL RIG DISASTER

WHAT HAPPENED AND WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM IT

TEAM NAME: Stagnant Sandbags

TEAM MEMBERS: James Benvenuto, Nicholas Greene,

Nicholas Laschkewitsch, Alison Starner ENGR 10 – Cabrillo College

PRESENTATION OVERVIEW

• Background of Piper Alpha Oil Rig

• Details of the Failure

• Aftermath and Results of Failure

• Ethical Concerns

• What we can learn from it

BACKGROUND OF FAILURE

TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW…Gas Condensate Pumps: When obtaining oil from ocean floors, wells will pull up oil, natural gas, and brine. The water, oil, and gas are separated on the platform. The gas is cooled to remove the gas condensate which is then pumped (using gas condensate pumps) back into the oil to be sent to an onshore refinery.

TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW…Blast Shields and Fire Walls: Blast shields are meant to contain an overpressure explosion, while fire walls will only slow a fires spread and provide a heat shield to allow people to escape. A fire wall is inadequate protection for an explosion risk. A blast shield will provide protection from explosion and fire.

Gas Risers: Oil and gas lines are laid on the ocean floor. When a platform is transporting gas or oil from one area to another, it will need to be lifted from the pipes below to its destination. The Piper Alpha served as a hub at the time of the explosion. It transported and received gas from the Tartan platform, the Claymore platform, and the MPC-01 platform.

TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW…Gas Condensate: Gaseous components in raw natural gas. This can be separated when the gas is cooled and is highly flammable. Flowing gas condensate (such as a leak) can be ignited by self-producing

Gas Module:Self-contained box or package built with a specific purpose (for example, well head, oil and gas separation, gas compression, platform power generation, mud, storage, diesel, filter and exhaust) located on production installations.

PERSONNEL AND COMPANY

PROJECT DETAILS

CONSTRUCTION

DESIGN

FUNCTION

THE FAILURE

TECHNICAL DETAILS

SAFETY VALVE & ENSUING DISASTER

AFTERMATH AND RESULTS OF FAILURE

ETHICAL CONCERNS

PREVENTATIVE STEPS & ALTERNATIVE MEASURES

SUMMARY

CONCLUSION

WHAT TO TAKE AWAY