"Regular Maintenance Difficult Due to Heat Exchanger"... Industrial Accident Causes Worry for Yeosu Industrial Complex Companies (Comprehensive)

Focus on Investigation Results... Establishment of Safety and Health Management System

On the afternoon of the 11th, at Yeocheon NCC Plant 3 in Hwachi-dong, Yeosu National Industrial Complex, Yeosu, Jeollanam-do, Choi Geum-am (right) and Kim Jae-yul, co-CEOs of Yeocheon NCC, bowed their heads after issuing a public apology for the explosion accident that caused casualties. (Image source=Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chae-seok] Domestic largest naphtha cracking center (NCC) company Yeocheon NCC is causing distress among companies located in the Yeosu National Industrial Complex in Jeollanam-do as an industrial accident fatality occurred at its 3rd plant. This is because it is difficult to carry out regular maintenance, which costs several hundred billion won each time, or to completely replace the heat exchanger, which is the cause of the accident.

According to the petrochemical industry on the 15th, the heat exchanger, which caused the Yeocheon NCC explosion accident, is an essential part of the petrochemical plant that operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Without it, the plant operation would suffer critical disruption. This is why airtightness tests are frequently conducted on the heat exchanger, the cause of this accident. Companies responded that the accident appears to have occurred due to the cover detaching during the airtightness test of the heat exchanger, but it is uncertain whether it was due to an inherent defect in the heat exchanger itself. They emphasized that the term "aging facility," as claimed by some, is not appropriate.

An industry insider explained, "Once a heat exchanger is installed in a plant, it is managed by repairing it as problems arise without replacing or shutting it down until the plant closes," adding, "It is not like a passenger ship, which is legally set to have a '30-year lifespan'." Another official said, "If the facility had been excessively aged causing the explosion accident, an entire city would have been wiped out," and added, "Regardless of regulations, engineers find it difficult to neglect facilities recklessly, so it is unreasonable to claim that there is widespread safety negligence in managing aging facilities among surrounding tenant companies due to this industrial accident."

As there are many heavy chemical plants in the Yeosu industrial complex and concerns about chain damage, there are calls to shorten the regular maintenance cycle, but the industry expressed reluctance. According to Yeocheon NCC and other NCC companies in the Yeosu industrial complex such as LG Chem and Lotte Chemical, regular maintenance is conducted once every four years or less. Under the Process Safety Management (PSM) system implemented according to the Industrial Safety and Health Act, the government assigns four grades including PSM+M to companies, and the mandatory regular maintenance cycle may vary slightly depending on the grade. Yeocheon NCC currently holds an S grade, which may be downgraded after investigation. The regular maintenance period takes about 4 to 12 weeks and costs around 100 billion won. LG Chem completed regular maintenance at its Daesan complex plant in November last year and plans to conduct maintenance at the Yeosu complex in the second half of this year, four years after 2018.

An industry insider said, "Regular maintenance is an inspection that examines everything from raw material input to product production in the plant, so it is unreasonable to conduct it just because of one heat exchanger," adding, "It is realistic to implement measures to prevent the spread of accidents involving the heat exchanger according to the risk assessment manual prepared by the company and to perform maintenance work only on the problematic parts."

Meanwhile, Yeocheon NCC is preparing for the possibility of a downgrade order under the PSM system following the initial investigation of this accident. It plans to revise the ‘safety and health management system establishment obligation,’ which is strictly regulated by authorities under the Serious Accident Punishment Act. A Yeocheon NCC official said, "Regardless of the PSM grading system, we will maintain our own equipment maintenance, but if the government issues a corrective order for the safety and health improvement plan, we will comply immediately." The official refrained from commenting on measures to be taken if the current CEO is booked for violating the Serious Accident Punishment Act as a result of the investigation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.