Safety Regulation for Small LPG Distribution Systems (2018) / Chapter Skim
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30 This chapter describes liquefied petroleum gas's (LPG's) physical properties and hazard characteristics that must be controlled, examines available data on LPG pipeline incidents, and reviews several incidents that stand out from the data.
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 31 LPG PROPERTIES AND HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS LPG may contain butane, butylene, isobutane, isobutylene, propane, propylene, or mixes of each compound. Like natural gas, propane and butane are colorless and odorless, and therefore chemical odorants such as ethyl mercaptan are added to LPG to aid in the detection of escaping gas.
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32 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS TABLE 3-1 Select Physical Properties of Propane and Butane Propane Butane Chemical formula C3H8 C4H10 Initial boiling point –44°F 31°F Vapor pressure, pounds per square inch absolute (psia) at 70°F at 100°F 145 218 32 52 Cubic feet of vapor per gallon (ft3/gal)
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 33 into buildings, such as basements. Because LPG disperses from the spill site relatively slowly and pools, it can retain its potential as a source of fuel for a fire or explosion longer than a similar release of natural gas.
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34 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS significance of LPG hazard characteristics in a system configuration similar to commercial jurisdictional systems. Parkers Prairie, Minnesota On August 5, 1991, an LPG pipeline distribution system ruptured and killed an employee at a delicatessen in Parkers Prairie, Minnesota.
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 35 vention program such as a one-call notification system. One-call notification systems are intended to facilitate safe excavation through the use of communications centers that field inquiries from excavators and notify all underground infrastructure operators (who are members of the system)
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36 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS with tracer wire to enable detection.16 The LPG migrated underground through porous rock until it reached the crawl spaces of several buildings, where it remained undetected until it ignited in the middle of the night. Ghent, West Virginia On September 25, 2008, a propane technician was exchanging an older tank with a replacement tank on a non-jurisdictional system serving a convenience store in Ghent, West Virginia, when a defective liquid withdrawal valve caused propane to escape.
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 37 A concern of the committee is that some incidents involving small LPG systems may not have been reported to PHMSA, and therefore fire records in USFA's NFIRS were also examined.19 The results of analyses of these databases, which are presented next, suggest that incidents involving LPG pipeline systems are rare. The causal information in the databases, however, is insufficient for drawing conclusions about specific regulatory requirements and their safety contribution.
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38 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS Useful information was extracted from the pre-2010 and more recent records; however, PHMSA does not collect incident data regarding certain LPG-specific factors, such as the number of customers served by a system or the size and configuration (that is, aboveground or underground) of the storage tank.
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39 T A B L E 3 -2 L PG I nc id en ts R ep or te d to P H M SA , 19 86 –F eb ru ar y 20 04 Y ea r R ep or ts Fa ta lit ie s In ju ri es Ig ni ti on E xp lo si on T ot al C os t, 20 16 D ol la rs 19 86 1 0 2 1 1 $0 19 87 0 0 0 0 0 $0 19 88 1 0 2 1 0 $0 19 89 2 0 0 2 1 $2 08 ,7 80 19 90 2 0 0 2 2 $2 92 ,1 35 19 91 3 1 1 2 2 $1 4, 59 3 19 92 0 0 0 0 0 $0 19 93 0 0 0 0 0 $0 19 94 0 0 0 0 0 $0 19 95 0 0 0 0 0 $0 19 96 1 33 42 1 1 $7 ,2 72 ,2 52 19 97 0 0 0 0 0 $0 19 98 0 0 0 0 0 $0 19 99 0 0 0 0 0 $0 20 00 0 0 0 0 0 $0 20 01 0 0 0 0 0 $0 20 02 1 1 17 1 1 U nk no w n 20 03 1 0 0 1 1 $5 79 ,5 83 20 04 0 0 0 0 0 $0 To ta l 12 35 64 11 9 $8 ,3 67 ,3 44 SO U R C E : P ip el in e an d H az ar do us M at er ia ls S af et y A dm in is tr at io n, " Pi pe lin e In ci de nt F la gg ed F ile s, " A pr il 30 , 2 01 8, h tt ps :// w w w .p hm sa .d ot .g ov / da ta -a nd -s ta ti st ic s/ pi pe lin e/ pi pe lin ein ci de nt -fl ag ge dfil es .
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40 T A B L E 3 -3 L PG I nc id en ts R ep or te d to P H M SA , M ar ch 2 00 4– 20 09 Y ea r R ep or ts Fa ta lit ie s In ju ri es Ig ni ti on E xp lo si on Pe rs on s E va cu at ed T ot al C os t, 20 16 D ol la rs 20 04 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0 20 05 1 0 0 1 1 0 $0 20 06 2 2 4 2 2 47 0 $1 ,6 62 ,8 56 20 07 0 0 0 0 0 0 $0 20 08 1 0 0 1 1 5 $7 89 ,4 30 20 09 3 0 2 3 3 10 $2 89 ,4 79 To ta l 7 2 6 7 7 48 5 $2 ,7 41 ,7 65 SO U R C E : Pi pe lin e an d H az ar do us M at er ia ls S af et y A dm in is tr at io n, " Pi pe lin e In ci de nt F la gg ed F ile s.
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41 T A B L E 3 -4 L PG I nc id en ts R ep or te d to P H M SA , 20 10 –2 01 7 Y ea r R ep or ts Fa ta lit ie s In ju ri es Ig ni ti on E xp lo si on G as R el ea se d, T ho us an ds o f C ub ic F ee t (f t3 )
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42 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS FIGURE 3-1 Causes of incidents in LPG pipeline systems reported to PHMSA, 1986–2017. SOURCE: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, "Pipeline Incident Flagged Files." an uncontrolled release of gas that demands an immediate response to avoid a hazard to people or property.
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 43 FIGURE 3-2 The share of and count of leaks and hazardous leaks in LPG mains by cause reported to PHMSA for systems serving 100 or more customers, 2016. SOURCE: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, "Gas Distribution, Gas Gathering, Gas Transmission, Hazardous Liquids, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
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44 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS FIGURE 3-3 The share of and count of leaks and hazardous leaks in LPG service lines by cause reported to PHMSA for systems serving 100 or more customers, 2016. SOURCE: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, "Gas Distribution, Gas Gathering, Gas Transmission, Hazardous Liquids, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 45 FIGURE 3-4 The share of and count of excavation damage by cause in LPG systems reported to PHMSA for systems serving 100 or more customers, 2016. SOURCE: Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, "Gas Distribution, Gas Gathering, Gas Transmission, Hazardous Liquids, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
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46 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS pipelines, inadequate information from an excavator, insufficient notification time, and communication errors. Instances of these problems can lead to poorly informed excavation practices.
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 47 TABLE 3-5 NFIRS Data on LPG Pipeline Fires in the United States, 2010–2016 Year Number of LPG Pipeline Fires Property Loss Incident States 2010 7 $320,000 IA, IN, KS, SC, TN 2011 15 $1,270,200 AL, CO, GA, IN, KS, MO, ND, NV, OH, TX, WA 2012 2 $0 MA, WI 2013 4 $0 KY, MI, MN, TX 2014 9 $30,000 AZ, CA, FL, IA, IL, MD, MN, OK, TX 2015 6 $300 CO, FL, GA, ID, PA, WI 2016 6 $0 AL, NC, TX Total 49 $1,620,500 Median 6 $300 Mean 7 $33,071 SOURCE: U.S. Fire Administration, "Download Fire Data and Data Analysis Tools," June 5, 2018, https://www.usfa.fema.gov/data/statistics/order_download_data.html.
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48 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS SUMMARY ASSESSMENT When released inadvertently, LPG behaves differently than natural gas. The high relative vapor density of LPG, which makes it heavier than air, can cause it to creep along the ground or seep underground, which can lead to pooling in concentrations that are within its flammability limits, rather than disperse into the atmosphere like natural gas.
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 49 regulations and standards are discussed in the next chapter, including a discussion of concerns raised by industry about the applicability of some of the federal requirements to the smaller LPG systems given their safety performance and the coverage of the NFPA codes.
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50 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS ANNEX With the extensive presentation of data in Chapter 3, this annex provides an additional level of detail for context about the data sources and limitations. SAFETY DATA SOURCES AND THEIR LIMITATIONS The data in Chapter 3 provide an overview of incident frequency, types of risks, prevalence of leading indicators for safety performance such as leaks and excavation damage, and fire reporting for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 51 For large LPG pipeline systems (i.e., service to 100 or more customers) that submit annual system condition reporting, the use of an OPID for leading indicators obscures important details.
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52 SAFETY REGULATION FOR SMALL LPG DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS the equivalent figure for 2016 was 7.9 miles. Likewise, for service lines, 2,057 service lines of unknown decade of construction were reported in 2015, which was followed by 614 service lines reported in 2016.
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HAZARD CHARACTERISTICS AND SAFETY PERFORMANCE 53 The analysis of NFIRS to establish a count of LPG fires uses the code for "LPG" found in the data field for the type of material contributing most to the spread of the fire coupled with the code for "pipeline distribution system" in the data field for the specific use of the property at an incident site. Selection for these data fields is based on the characteristics used for identifying LPG pipeline distribution systems and on their status as mandatory reporting fields for firefighters when filing reports to NFIRS.35 By contrast, data fields such as factors that contributed to the growth, spread, or suppression of the fire; on-site materials or products; and stored material are not required items and could introduce uncertainty into the analysis because of inconsistent reporting.
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