At about 1653 hours on Saturday, June 1, 1974, the Nypro (UK) site at Flixborough was severely damaged by a large scale explosion. In Flixborough disaster twenty-eight employees were killed and 36 injured. Outside the works injuries and damage were widespread, with 53 people being reported injured. Varying degrees of damage was caused to 1,821 houses and 167 business premises. The loss of life could have been far higher if the accident had occurred on a weekday.
The Flixborough plant was operated by Nypro Chemicals, owned jointly by Dutch State Mines and the National Coal Board (NCB) at the time of the disaster. The plant was built between 1964 and 1967 for the production of Caprolactum, which is the basic raw material for the production of Nylon.
The part of the plant on which the explosion occurred, involved the oxidation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanone using air injection at 8.8 bar g (130 psig) and 155°C (31 1°F). The oxidation reaction was carried out in the liquid phase in six reactor vessels arranged in series, each set 14 inches (360 mm) below its predecessor to allow the flow to progress through the reaction train by gravity.
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