BASF Ludwigshafen blast cause still a mystery

12 August 1998 16:50  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (CNI)--BASF has said the explosion at its Styropor expandable polystyrene (EPS) plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany on Monday, which killed two workers, was "nothing to do with routine production."

The blast is being jointly investigated by the public prosecutor's office, the industrial inspection office, the German employers' liability insurance association and BASF's own experts, plus an outside expert called in by the public prosecutor's office.

BASF said the air in the room where the explosion happened was being monitored for explosive gas mixtures with two explosimeters while repair work was carried out. Both instruments had been recovered and showed no findings, BASF said.

The room held a tank used as a buffer between the polymerisation and further processing steps in Styropor production. It is normally filled with an aqueous suspension of Styropor beads, consisting of polystyrene and 6% pentane, a highly explosive liquid used as an expanding agent. However, the tank had been emptied, flooded and flushed with water four weeks prior to the explosion.

The damage caused is estimated at up to DM500 000 ($282 000). The plant will not be restarted until the expert investigations are concluded, BASF said.

By: Grace Williams
+44 208 652 3214

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