Reflections on the Fire at Russia’s Amur Gas Chemical Complex — Valve Safety Analysis for the Auxiliary Process Section of a Cracking Unit
2026-08-27
Fact Statement: The fire is still under investigation, and publicly available information has not yet confirmed the exact cause of the accident. Therefore, this article does not analyze the cause of the accident, nor does it attribute the accident to any specific valve, piping component, or equipment. Instead, it focuses on valve safety issues commonly involved in the commissioning of large-scale chemical facilities. On August 25, 2026, a serious fire occurred at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGCC) in the Amur Region of Russia’s Far East. As of August 26, the accident had resulted in 7 deaths, 152 injuries, and 9 people missing. According to an official statement from AGCC, the fire occurred in the auxiliary process section of the plant’s pyrolysis unit, while the main project equipment was not damaged. This accident is deeply distressing and once again reminds us that, in natural gas chemical projects, the safety of auxiliary process sections, particularly the reliability of valves, is by no means an “auxiliary” issue. 1. What Is the Auxiliary Process Section of a Cracking Unit? An ethylene cracking unit is an extremely complex system with highly demanding process requirements. The cracking furnace is the heart of the unit, where natural gas or naphtha is cracked at temperatures above 800°C into basic chemical feedstocks such as ethylene and propylene. The Auxiliary Technological Section, although not located at the center of the high-temperature reaction like the cracking furnace, is responsible for providing stable utilities and various auxiliary media for the entire unit, ensuring the continuous and safe operation of the main unit. The auxiliary process section mainly includes the following seven subsystems: 1. Fuel Gas/Fuel Oil System: This includes fuel gas buffer vessels, knockout drums, fuel oil pumps, strainers, and burners, and is responsible for supplying stable and clean fuel to the cracking furnace. 2. Steam System: The core equipment is the Steam Drum, which generates and distributes the dilution steam, high-pressure steam, and other steam required by the unit. 3. Feedwater and Condensate System: This includes deaerators, boiler feedwater pumps, condensate recovery tanks, and other equipment responsible for supplying and treating qualified water for the steam system. 4. Compression and Refrigeration System: This includes multistage compressors, intercoolers, separators, and refrigeration compressors, which are used to compress and cool cracked gas and provide refrigeration for downstream separation. 5. Drying and Purification System: This mainly consists of molecular sieve dryers used to remove trace moisture from cracked gas and prevent freezing and blockage of downstream equipment at low temperatures. 6. Relief and Flare System: This includes flare knockout drums, flare tips, and other equipment used to safely burn and dispose of combustible gases discharged from the unit d...