T2 Laboratories explosion and fire

{{short description|2007 explosion and fire in Jacksonville, Florida}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox event

|title=T2 Laboratories explosion and fire

|image=T2 explosion downtown jax.jpg

|caption=View from Downtown Jacksonville

|date=December 19, 2007

|time=

|duration=

|venue=T2 Laboratories Inc.

|place=Jacksonville, Florida

|coordinates=

|type=Explosion, Industrial disaster

|deaths=4

|injuries=14

}}

The T2 Laboratories explosion and fire occurred on December 19, 2007, in Jacksonville, Florida, resulting in the deaths of four people and the injury of fourteen others.{{cite web | title=Plant Blast is Worst U.S. Industrial Accident in Nearly 3 Years | url=http://archive.firstcoastnews.com/news/article/98412/0/Plant-Blast-is-Worst-US-Industrial-Accident-in-Nearly-3-Years | accessdate=2008-01-03 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054055/http://archive.firstcoastnews.com/news/article/98412/0/Plant-Blast-is-Worst-US-Industrial-Accident-in-Nearly-3-Years |archivedate=2016-03-04}} T2 Laboratories Inc. was a facility that specialized in the manufacture of specialty chemicals primarily for gasoline additives.{{cite web | title=T2 Labs - Manufacturer of gasoline additives | url=http://www.t2labs.com/index.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206033028/http://www.t2labs.com/index.htm | accessdate=2008-01-03| archive-date=2007-12-06 }}{{cite web | title=T2 Labs is the manufacturer of Ecotane | url=http://t2labs.com/ecotane/ecotane.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206033614/http://t2labs.com/ecotane/ecotane.htm | accessdate=2008-01-03| archive-date=2007-12-06 }}

The explosion's force was equivalent to detonating {{cvt|1400|lb|kg}} of TNT and it spread debris up to {{cvt|1|mi|km}} from the plant.{{cite web | title=Overheated chamber triggered chemical lab blast | url=http://www.tallahassee.com/legacy/special/blogs/2008/01/overheated-chamber-triggered-chemical.html | accessdate=2008-01-05 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080309040204/http://www.tallahassee.com/legacy/special/blogs/2008/01/overheated-chamber-triggered-chemical.html |archivedate = 2008-03-09}} Following the explosion, every HAZMAT unit in Jacksonville and over 100 firefighters fought the ensuing blaze, which a spokesman termed a "hellish inferno".{{cite web | title=Chemical Reactor Rupture Suspected In Fatal Lab Explosion, Safety Board Says | url=http://www.news4jax.com/news/14941969/detail.html | accessdate=2008-01-03 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080404223057/http://www.news4jax.com/news/14941969/detail.html |archivedate=2008-04-04}}

File:T2 Explosion.webm

Image:Aerial view of T2 Laboratories.jpg

The blast killed Robert Scott Gallagher, 49; Charles Budds Bolchoz, 48; Karey Renard Henry, 35; and Parrish Lamar Ashley, 36. At the time of his death, Gallagher was Marketing Director for T2 Labs.{{cite web | title=Contact T2 Labs Inc. | url=https://t2labs.com/contact/contact.htm | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206033023/https://t2labs.com/contact/contact.htm | accessdate=2008-01-03| archive-date=2007-12-06 }} Fourteen people were hospitalized for chemical exposure or their injuries after the blast. The company laid off workers and shut down in the following months.{{cite web|url=https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=TESTIMONIES&p_id=1482|title=Occupational Safety and Health Administration - Occupational Safety and Health Administration|publisher=|accessdate=25 April 2017}}

In September 2009, a report was released by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board as to the cause of the accident.{{cite web|url=http://www.csb.gov/UserFiles/file/T2%20Final%20Report.pdf |access-date=18 April 2023|website=csb.gov|title=Final report}} The explosion occurred in a {{cvt|2500|usgal|L}} batch reactor during production of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MCMT). The reactor cooling system, which lacked backup systems, failed; this led to a thermal runaway. Pressures rapidly reached {{cvt|400|psi|bar}}, bursting the reactor's rupture disc, but this was insufficient to slow the runaway reaction. Nearby witnesses described a jet engine-like sound as high pressure gases vented from the reactor. At the same time pressure increased in the reactor, temperatures also increased in the reactor until the solvent (diglyme) reached decomposition temperature.{{Cite journal|last1=Willey|first1=Ronald J.|last2=Fogler|first2=H. Scott|last3=Cutlip|first3=Michael B.|date=2011|title=The integration of process safety into a chemical reaction engineering course: Kinetic modeling of the T2 incident|url=https://aiche.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/prs.10431|journal=Process Safety Progress|language=en|volume=30|issue=1|pages=39–44|doi=10.1002/prs.10431|issn=1547-5913|hdl=2027.42/83180|s2cid=109207593|hdl-access=free}} The pressure and temperature continued to increase until the reactor violently detonated. Damage from the explosion was severe enough that 4 buildings in the immediate vicinity of the plant were condemned.{{cite AV media |people= |date= September 21, 2009|title= Runaway: Explosion at T2 Laboratories|trans-title=|language= English|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C561PCq5E1g|access-date= April 6, 2020|time=4:31}}