Bhopal India 1984
On the night of the 2nd of December 1984 tragedy struck in Bhopal, India killing an estimated 20,000 people. It began with a pesticide plant by Union Carbide. Union Carbide had diversified into India via Union Carbide India Limited. They had suspected that India was an enormous market that was yet to be tapped into and discovered. At the time UCC was one of the first companies to invest into India (Union Carbide Corporations). The plan was to sell their pesticide “Sevin” to the Indian population. With the vast population of India and its farmers, they thought that broadening into India would make their revenue and profits rise immensely.
Broadening Union Carbide Corporations (UCC) into India meant that they needed to create …show more content…
This particular pipe was also connected to tank E610 which contained 30 metric tonnes of M.I.C. Since M.I.C has a fairly low boiling point (39.1˚C) when it reacts with H2O it reaches past it’s boiling point and turn the liquid stored isocyanate into a toxic gas. With the build-up of gas the pressure in tank E610 rose to such a level that it ruptured the disc and let the gas escape from the chimney. (Varma, Roli and Daya R. Varma). The gas was so dense that all of it sunk to the ground where the city was located. A huge commotion had started in the city with a stampede of people running into the streets to escape. People who had fallen down were trampled over by people as well as cows that were attempting to escape for their lives (The Bhopal Medical …show more content…
The most important 2 systems, the scrubber and the flare tower, were both incapable and nonfunctional at the time of the accident. The scrubber, if functional, can neutralize MIC entering at 90kg/h at 35˚C and a maximum pressure of 15pounds per square inch (Varma, Roli and Daya R. Varma). The pressure at which the MIC had escaped was 200 times higher and 6 to 10 times the maximum temperature. At the time, there was also a third safety measure that had proven to fail. This was the water spraying system which had failed since the water could not reach the height of the chimney the gas had escaped
On the night of the 2nd of December 1984 tragedy struck in Bhopal, India killing an estimated 20,000 people. It began with a pesticide plant by Union Carbide. Union Carbide had diversified into India via Union Carbide India Limited. They had suspected that India was an enormous market that was yet to be tapped into and discovered. At the time UCC was one of the first companies to invest into India (Union Carbide Corporations). The plan was to sell their pesticide “Sevin” to the Indian population. With the vast population of India and its farmers, they thought that broadening into India would make their revenue and profits rise immensely.
Broadening Union Carbide Corporations (UCC) into India meant that they needed to create …show more content…
This particular pipe was also connected to tank E610 which contained 30 metric tonnes of M.I.C. Since M.I.C has a fairly low boiling point (39.1˚C) when it reacts with H2O it reaches past it’s boiling point and turn the liquid stored isocyanate into a toxic gas. With the build-up of gas the pressure in tank E610 rose to such a level that it ruptured the disc and let the gas escape from the chimney. (Varma, Roli and Daya R. Varma). The gas was so dense that all of it sunk to the ground where the city was located. A huge commotion had started in the city with a stampede of people running into the streets to escape. People who had fallen down were trampled over by people as well as cows that were attempting to escape for their lives (The Bhopal Medical …show more content…
The most important 2 systems, the scrubber and the flare tower, were both incapable and nonfunctional at the time of the accident. The scrubber, if functional, can neutralize MIC entering at 90kg/h at 35˚C and a maximum pressure of 15pounds per square inch (Varma, Roli and Daya R. Varma). The pressure at which the MIC had escaped was 200 times higher and 6 to 10 times the maximum temperature. At the time, there was also a third safety measure that had proven to fail. This was the water spraying system which had failed since the water could not reach the height of the chimney the gas had escaped