Papers by Author: Alex W. Lowery

Abstract: On April 20, 2010, an explosion rocked the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico resulting in the deaths of 11 workers. Tens of thousands of documents were released during the investigation for the root cause of the explosion."What emerges is stark and singular fact: crew members died and suffered terrible injuries because every one of the Horizon's defenses failed on April 20. Some were deployed but did not work. Some were activated too late, after they had almost certainly been damaged by fire or explosions. Some were never deployed at all.(Barstow et al. 2011)". Parallels with the aluminium industry standout when comparing the Deepwater Horizon disaster (e.g. violent explosions, damaged equipment, worker deaths and worker injuries). The list of aluminium industry catastrophes is not short: Binzhou Weiqiao Aluminum, Reynolds Alabama, Alcan France, etc. Aluminium plants, just as deepwater oil rigs, value training and safety measures to prevent accidents from occurring. But, on April 20, 2010 every safety measure employed failed, could the safety measures employed in a casthouse to prevent a molten metal steam explosion fail too

Abstract: Over 60 years ago the first reported molten metal explosion from a bleed-out during direct chill casting in an aluminium mill was reported. Soon thereafter, testing was performed to determine the root cause of the explosion. Upon determination of the root cause, an investigation to determine if any preventive measures could be instituted to prevent the explosions was conducted. Results found that a specific organic coating (e.g., Wise Chem E-212-F) prevented molten metal explosions, whereas some specific organic coatings initiated the explosions. Fifteen years ago the U.S. Department of Energy in conjuncture with the Aluminum Association reinvestigated the root cause of molten metal explosions. Testing revealed that an initiation or trigger had to be present for a molten metal explosion to occur. Testing identified three additional coatings that could afford protection.