Ammonia Fertilizer Plant Explosion, Many Killed and More Than 100 Injured

Our hearts go out to those injured and killed in the Waco, Texas fertilizer plant explosion and thier families. Details regarding this tragic event continue to evolve.

The West Fertilizer Co. plant in West, Texas had an air quality permit from the state to run a fertilizer mixing and storage facility. It had a large stockpile of Anhydrous Ammonia, which is synthesized from Natural Gas and atmospheric nitrogen using the Haber-Bosch process. The Dallas Morning News reported that West Fertilizer’s filings with federal and local environmental officials claimed that its plant posed no risk of a fire or explosion.

Ammonia is used to make ammonium nitrate, a highly potent fertilizer and explosive. There have been more than two dozen major ammonium nitrate accidents in the past hundred years, according to a list compiled by Wikipedia, including an explosion in Texas City in 1947 that killed hundreds of people, and a smaller incident in Bryan, Texas in 2009, where a fire caused the release of poisonous fumes

Such events serve as a constant reminder for the need to put safety first whenever combustible or toxic gases are in production, use, or storage. While the source of the explosion will not be determined until investigators can safely enter the facility, it is important to know that similar facilities exist around the country. Within fertilizer manufacturing plants the storage and use of Anhydrous Ammonia and Natural Gas are common.

The Application Engineering Team at Sensidyne has assisted many facilities in specifying and designing gas detection systems for Ammonia and Natural Gas monitoring. Sensidyne has the only FM performance approved Ammonia gas detection sensor. We welcome the opportunity to assist your facility by evaluating current systems or designing a new gas detection system.

Ammonia Gas Detection for Fertilizer Manufacturing Plants       Gas Detection for Natural Gas Processing Plants