BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY

INTRO
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY
UNION CARBIDE
INDIA LIMITED
Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL)
was established in 1934, when
Union Carbide Corporation (UCC)
became one of the first U.S.
companies to invest in India.
UCIL shares were publicly traded
on the Calcutta Stock Exchange.
UCIL was a diversified
manufacturing company,
employing approximately 9,000
people and operating 14 plants in
five divisions.
 UNION CARBIDE
INDIA LIMITED
In 1969, Union Carbide (India), a
subsidiary of the large American
corporation, set up a pesticide
formulation plant on the north edge of
the city, originally to import, mix and
package pesticides manufactured in the
United States.
Ten years later, a 5000 ton methyl
isocyanate (MIC) production unit was
installed, primarily to manufacture an
effective and inexpensive carbaryl
pesticide marketed as 'Sevin'.
UNION CARBIDE
INDIA LIMITED
The Bhopal plant was built in the late
1970's and was owned and operated by
UCIL, an Indian company in which
Union Carbide held just over half of the
stock.
Indian financial institutions and
thousands of private investors in India
owned the remainder of the stock.
The plant produced pesticides for use in
India to:
Help the country's agricultural sector
increase its productivity.
And, Contribute more significantly to
meeting the food needs of one of the
world's most heavily populated regions.
BHOPAL PLANT
Union Carbide India Limiteds (UCIL) Bhopal Plant

A vast chemical complex containing miles of complicated

piping and hundreds of specialized reactors, pressure
vessel, heat exchangers and other equipment employed
by more than 1000 workers.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF
THE PLANT
A UCIL project from the beginning which
took 8 year to complete (1972-1980).
I involves hundreds of Indian engineers
and designers from UCIL and major
Indian engineering firms, dozen of Indian
subcontractors and thousands of Indian
construction workers.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF
THE PLANT
Pursuant to the contract with UCIL, which required
GOIs approval, UCC provided process design
packages for the construction of the plant and the
services of some of its technicians to monitor the
progress of UCIL in detailing the design and
erecting the plant. However, the UOI [Union of India]
controlled the terms of the agreements and
precluded UCC from exercising any authority to
'detail design.
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF
THE PLANT
The process design packages that UCC provided
were nothing more than design starting points; they
provided only general parameters -- such as the
composition and flows of chemicals, temperatures,
working pressures, certain information on materials
of construction and the like. A plant cannot be
constructed from process design packages.
PRODUCT
MIC PROPERTIES
Flammability (3)
Can be ignited
under almost
all ambient
temperature
conditions.

Health (4) Instability (2)

Can be Readily undergoes
lethal! violent reactions
at high temp. and
pres.

Special :
Reacts Violently
and Explosively in
Water!
ROUTES OF ENTRY IN
THE BODY
CHRONO
CAUSES
IT WAS AN ACT
OF SABOTAGE
BY A
DISGRUNTLED
WORKER

WARREN ANDERSON
-
( CHAIRMAN AND CEO OF THE UNION
CARBIDECORPORATION)
1. IMPROPER STORAGE OF
METHYL ISOCYANATE (MIC)
MIC storage tank (E-610) filled
beyond recommended capacity
and excess reserve tank already
filled
Recommended: 50%
Filled to 87%
Spare tank was not empty
2. INSTRUMENTS AT THE
PLANT WERE UNRELIABLE
Pressure Gauge indicator at the control
room has an inaccurate reading
Bhopal plant does not have computer
system
The management relied on workers to
sense escaping methyl isocyanate as
their eyes started to water
3. PRESSURE RELIEF VALVE
WAS RUPTURED

The gas escaped through

the emergency venting
system and out into the
atmosphere
4. 500 KG OF WATER COMBINED
WITH METAL IMPURITIES ENTERED
THE E-610 TANK OF MIC
Tank E610 containing 42 tonnes of MIC
Water leak into tank making the
pressure in the MIC tank to rocket up
to 55 pounds per square inches

EXOTHERMIC REACTION
It increased the temperature inside the
tank to over 200 degrees C
HOW DID WATER ENTER THE
E-610 TANK?
5. THREE (3) MAIN SAFETY
SYSTEMS FAILED
Vent gas scrubber main line of defence
It was not in an operational condition
leaking gas could be detoxified

Flare Tower Designed to burn off toxic gas

connecting pipe had been removed for
maintenance

Water Curtain
not high enough to reach gas
 THE THREE FUNDAMENTAL
ESCAPE SYSTEM DESIGNED TO
CONTAIN AN ESCAPE GAS EITHER
COULDNT COPE , ALL WERENT
WORKING
6. REFRIGERATION UNIT (COOLING
SYSTEM) WAS SHUT OFF

Refrigeration unit designed to

keep the methyl isocyanate cool
and inhibit chemical reactions
7. COST - CUTTING

MASSIVE COST CUTTING

INVITED A MASSIVE DISASTER
8. NEGLIGENCE OF EARLY WARNING
SIGNS (PAST INCIDENTS)
5 chemical accidents in the plant between
1981 and 1984
December 25, 1981, a leak of phosgene
killed one worker, Ashraf Khan, at the
plant and severely injured two others

January 9, 1982, twenty five workers

were hospitalized as a result of
another leak at the plant
9. INADEQUATELY TRAINED STAFF
AND UNSATISFACTORY
INSTRUCTION METHOD

The plant cannot be run safely

with six people''
- Kamal K. Pareek, a chemical engineer who
began working at the Bhopal plant in 1971
and was senior project engineer during the
building of the methyl isocyanate facility
there eight years ago.
10. LACK OF COORDINATION BETWEEN
FACTORY AND EMERGENCY SERVICES

There were no effective public

warnings of the disaster
No brochures or other materials
had been distributed in the area
around the plant warning of the
hazards it presented, and there was
no public education program about
what to do in an emergency
10. LACK OF COORDINATION BETWEEN
FACTORY AND EMERGENCY SERVICES
Most workers, according to many
employees, panicked as the gas
escaped, running away to save their own
lives

The plant was also in a densely

populated area of the city
 EFFECTS

VIDEO!!!
ENVIRONMENTAL
IMPACT
1. The leaves on the trees near the factory yellowed and fell
off branches
2. Around 2 000 animals, mostly goats and buffalo were
killed
3. The rivers and lakes are also polluted
4. Food supply scarcity
 WATER
CONTAMINATION
1. The list of volatile organic compounds found included:
-Chlorinated benzenes -Carbon tetrachloride
-Chlorinated ethenes -Chloroform
-Trichloroethene- The level of trichloroethene was 50 times higher than the EPA safety limits.
2. Heavy metals detected included:
Mercury Lead
Chromium Nickel
Copper
3. Toxic organochlorides such as:
Chlorinated ethanes
Chlorinated hexanes
DDT
Hexachlorobutadiene is a potent kidney toxin and is under review as a possible human
carcinogen.
HEALTH EFFECTS
1. Burning, redness andwatering of the eyes, coughing,
difficulty breathing, corneal damage, redness of the skin,
vomiting, unconsciousness, fatigue, and death.
2. Majority of deaths within the first four days of the leak were
caused by pulmonary edema (fluid build-up in the lungs)
3. Cancers of the lung
4. Cataracts
5. Miscarriage
6. Menstrual cycle disruption, dysmenorrhea
7. Severe uterine pain during menstruation
8. Higher incidence of cleft lip
RECO
REFERENCE
American Chemistry Council. Responsible
Care.http://www.americanchemistry.com/s_responsiblecare/sec.asp?CID=12
98&DID=4841
BBC News. Response: Union Carbide and Dow Chemical. November
25, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/bhopal/4023447.stm#1
Bhopal: The World's Worst Industrial Disaster, 30 Years Later. December
2, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2014/12/bhopal-
the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-30-years-later/100864/
ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY AND HUMAN HEALTH Vol. I -
Case Study of the Bhopal Incident. Retrieved from
http://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/c09/e4-12-02-04.pdf
Union Carbide Corporation. (N/A). Bhopal plant history and ownership.
Retrieved from http://www.bhopal.com/Bhopal-Plant-History-and-Ownership