Failure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases

Oil Spill by Mizushima's Tank Damage
Dec. 18th, 1974, Kurashiki City, Okayama Prefecture
AKATSUKA, Hirotaka (Inst. for Safety of High-Pressure Gas Eng.)KOBAYASHI, Hideo (Tokyo Institute of Technology)(Summary)
The crack occurred in the weld in the dome roof t ank at the oil refinery that faced the Inland Sea, andthe fuel oil leaked on December 18, 1974. It fa iled in the transportation of t he fuel oil, the dike destroyedby the fall of the vertical stairs in the tank, and the fuel oil that flows out had diffused to the Inland Sea
through the drain d itch. Be cause t he i nstallation work of t he o il fen ce in t he sea had a ro ugh g oing, t heamount of the outflow of the fuel oil became an im portant reason that it reached about as m uch as 80,000
kiloliters, and 1/3 of the Inland Sea was polluted. It is a cause of the crack that the installation constructionof the vertical stairs is done during the hydraulic test of the tank, and the basic ground has subsided locallybecause the consolidation o f the fo undation w as i nsufficient, and a n excess ive s tress acte d on t he m ain
body of the tank. The petroleum kombinat etc. disaster prevention law was enact ed with this accident andFire Defense Law was amended.
1. Event
C fuel oil was accepted to the dome roof tank of 50,000 kiloliters in the tank yard of the Mitsubishi Oil
Co L td Mizushima refinery . Whe n t he liquid le vel i n the ta nk rea ched 1 7m height , p atrolling op erator
discovered the oil leakage from the tank bottom and informed the control room (Refer to Figure 1, Figure 2,and Figure 3). The chief operator was directed to move oil in a tank concerned to the adjacent tank. A large
amount of oil began to gush with the vibration sound when the operator opened the transportation valve.
The chief operator directed the emergency halt of all devices seeing the gush situation of oil and informed a
related organization such as fire stations and Japan Coast Guard. The foundation in the vicinity of the goingup and down stairs (19.65m in h eight and vertical stairs) of the t ank sank after a w hile. The ver tical stairs
fell because basic sa nd a nd macadam we re swept away and the dike was destroy ed (Refer to Figure 4).
Therefore, the oil ret aining wall is n ot done for, and the oil that flows out h as diffused to the Inland Sea
through t he d rain d itch. T he ins tallation work of t he o il fen ce had a roug h g oing for stron g tro uble a ndnighttime. The burst size of oil reached about as much as 80,000 kiloliters (What flowed backward from theadjacent tank was included), and 1/3 of the Inland Sea was polluted (Refer to Figure 5). When amends tothe inshore fisherman, collection cost of spilled oil, and a long-term shutdown, etc. were included, about asmuch as 5 0 billion y en became hug e am ount of dam age t hat rea ched t hough t he loss of s pilled oil w as
about 1.5 b illion yen. The trial for a long term was fo ught over between four companies of the petroleum
company, the engineering company, the tank construction company, and the basic construction company forthis compensation. The petroleum kombinat etc. disaster prevention law was enacted with this accident andｔhe restri ction w as strengt hened in 1975. Moreo ver, Fi re D efense Law w as greatl y am ended in 197 9, a1

Failure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases

technological standard concerning a base of the tank, a main body of the tank, a dike, and other outflow
prevention measures was provided for in detail, and a regular overhaul inspection was obligated.
Only nine months have passed in the accident tank (52.3m in diam eter, 23.67m in height, and 27mm
thickness of 60 kg/cm3 class high tensile strength steels in the lower) since use began. The occurrence partof destruction is a bo ttom of the ta nk where the vertical stairs were s et up. The crack occurred at the fi llet
welded joint of the shell plate in the lower and the annular plate (12 mm in thic kness of 60 kg/cm 3 classhigh tensile strength steels). This crack has reached about 13m in the direction of the circumference at thefillet welded joint even by the annular plate (9mm in thickness of SS400 steel) and about 3m from the fillet
welded joint toward the tank center. Moreover, the dome roof tank becomes the state of vacuum by a rapid
outflow of oil and has been broken two exact halves through the sinking center.
Rain during the pre vious n ight rem ained unt il t he m orning, an d w ater in the dike ac cording to an
inequitable su bsidence of t he ground o n th at day of the ac cident. The ground u nder the t ank sprea ds
macadam on the sa nd mat, and, in addition, fills on that with the mountain sand. The ground was adopted
for the method of weighting water on the tank in pressure close. However, after the main body of the tank
had been completed by making a mistake in the construction plan, the vertical stairs were set up alone. At
this time, the nearest foundation of a tank was dug up for about 5m according to the tank outer and in thedirection of the center by about 0.4m from the shell plate, and the base of the vertical stairs was placed, as
the water level of hy draulic test is 1 2m height. The foundation was buried after construction ended and it
was returne d. H owever, i t is presum ed not to have bee n ti ghtening enough a nd h ardened due to t hedifficulty of work. Therefore, the amount of a n inequitable subsidence in the vicinity of t he vertical stairs
was the largest with about 160mm. It is thought that the mountain sand of the foundation was carried awayby the process that the c oncentrating rai n wat er flows in t he m acadam layer, de creases wit h the i nclude
water stre ngth, occurs i n partial des truction of the s upport gro und a nd t he an nular plate t he crac k, andarrived at the accident.
2. Course
A completed inspection was done on December 15, 1973, and it began to use the accident tank in March,1974.

The operator w as patrolled w est side and north side of accident tank for the check the mixers ofAccident tank etc., December 18, 1974. In that time, abnormality was n ot admitted. At this time, the tankeast side where oil leaked was n ot patrolled. At about 20:40, the patrol security member discovered to fallas oil spouted from the upper part of the accident tank of the vertic al stairs near tank (It is the upper partfrom the bottom by about 5-6m) by about 30cm in wi dth while passing on the tank east side. Oil had notcollected in the dike at the time of this. As for oil, it blew about 1m in width higher than before, and more
intensely, it went out, and considerable oil had collected in the dike when he reported on the leakage of oil
and returned again.
At about 20: 50, to change carry ing oi l from the desu lfurization pro cess unit to t he acc ident tank tocarrying adjacent t ank t he val ve was operat ed. Next , at about 2 1:05, th e valve w as op erated t o c arryadjacent tank from the accident tank by using the difference of the height of the oil side. Afterwards, a large

2Failure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases

amount of oil flowed out with a large sound. Therefore, the valve was not able to be closed, and about 6500
kiloliters flowed out through the accident tank among the o il having been accommodated by the adjacenttank, by about 23:15 when the valve was closed. The gross weight of the oil that flows out is about 43000
kiloliters.
After a while , the fo undation in the vicinity of the vertical stairs san k, the vertical stairs fell, an d thedike was d estroyed. Therefore, oil besides the dike flowed out, and 7500-9500 liters in t hat flowed out tothe sea.
The oil fence was set up around the Mizushima port entrance to prevent spreading of oil upon the sea.
However, it flows out outside the Mizushima port on the evening of the 19th, and it has extended widelywith the time passage.
3. Cause
・ Imperfect foundation work
It is presumed to be a cause of the crack that the installation construction of the vertical stairs is done
during the hydraulic test of the tank, and the basic ground has subsided locally because the consolidation of
the foundation was insufficient, and an excessive stress acted on the main body of the tank.
・ Installation of the vertical stairs after the tank completed
An enough examination was not done about the stress generated in the main body of the tank when thevertical stairs were set up after the tank was completed.
4. Immediate Action
To prevent the fuel oil from extending, the installation work of the oil fence was done. However, it has arough going the installation work for the burst size of the fuel oil numerous and strong wind and the fuel oil
has diffused widely.
5. Countermeasure
The petrole um ko mbinat e tc. disast er pr evention law was enac ted with t his a ccident i n 1975, and therestriction was strengthened. Moreover, Fire Defense Law was greatly revised in 1979, and a technologicalstandard co ncerning a base of t he tank, a main body, a n o il reta ining w all, a nd o ther o utflow pr evention
measures was provided for in detail. In addition, the inspection of regular open of the measurement of aninequitable subsidence etc. was obligated.
It was restricted to secure the distance between the Tank and the fire and the distance between Tanks
because of security so far . The fea ture in the petrol eum kombinat etc. disaster prevention law was to ha ve
specified the kombinat that accumulated a large amount of petroleum and the high-pressure gases for “Thepetroleum kombinat etc. special disaster prevention district” (It is 75 places in the whole country). In t herefinery, it was divided into the manufacturing facility district, the storing facilities district, and the clerical
work management facilities district, etc. The area and arrangement were restrict ed. The restriction by thearea was provided as t he width of the disaster prevention passage (specific passage) corresponding to the3Failure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases

area of each facilities district was provided.
6. Knowledge
・ Generalization of the entire foundation work
In this accident, strength of the ground was not obtained and the tank was destroyed because the verticalstairs were se t up after t he base of th e ta nk was m aintained. I n important c onstruction of th e fou ndation
work etc ., t he judgm ent of the e ngineer in t he sta ndpoint where t he whole is generalized is necessary.
Those' wh o co nstruct it each intimately co ntacting un der th e gen eralization each ot her, an d sch eduling i tneatly are important.
・ Welding installation of the addition thing
The sec ondary st ress b y t he re straint is generated in th e we ld i f the a ddition th ing i s in stalled by t hewelding after the equipment is completed, a additional stress for the main part of equipment is generated,
and it causes the failure accident. The welding installation of the addition thing should be recognized there-doing of the design of the equipment. Moreover, it is necessary to strengthen the inspection thereafter fora certain period.
7. Information Source(1) Mitsubishi Oi l Co Lt d Mizushima refine ry tank accident ca use investigation report (Decem ber 8,1975) and Mitsubishi Oil Co Ltd Mizushima refinery tank accident cause investigation committee(2) Outline of Mitsubishi Oil Co Ltd Outflow Accident (March, 1975), Okayama Prefecture
8. Primary Scenario
01. Organizational Problems
02. Inflexible Management Structure
03. Lack of Communication
04. Lack of Management
05. Poor Value Perception
06. Poor Safety Awareness07. Lack of Risk Awareness08. Insufficient Analysis or Research
09. Insufficient Practice
10. Lack of Imagination
11. Planning and Design
12. Poor Planning
13. Welding
14. Failure
15. Fracture/Damage
16. Crack4

Failure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases

17. Failure
18. Large-Scale Damage
19. Leakage
20. Secondary Damage
21. Damage to Environment
22. Sea Pollution
23. Loss to Organization
24. Economic Loss

5

Failure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases

RefineryFig. 1 Location of the Refinery.

6

Failure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases

Refinary

Mizushima port

Fig. 2 Outline of the refinery.

7

Failure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases

Vertical Stairs

Fig. 3 Location of T-270.

8

Failure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases(a) Outline of Damaged Tank(b) Dike damage situation
Fig.4 Outline of damage of accident facilities.

9Kasaoka
CityTakuma
City

Refinary

10Takamatsu
City

Kagawa Pref.

SakaideCityKurashikiCityOkayama City

Okayama Pref.

NarutoCitythththrdndstth

Tokushima Pref.

ShohdoshimaIslandBizen City

AwajishimaIslandOkayama Pref.
reportedGovernment
reportedFailure Knowledge Database / 100 Selected Cases

Fig. 5 Diffusion situation of spilled oil (20th - 26th in December).