Explosion at Middletown Connecticut Natural Gas Power Plant Rocks Town

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--At approximately 11:17 a.m. yesterday an explosion at the Middletown Energy Center in Connecticut blew part of the structure way, causing a partial collapse and fire in the power house. Initial reports have stated that five contractors had been killed due to the explosion, nothing has been confirmed and 14 or more contractors were injured with several being transported to surrounding hospitals for additional treatment. Approximately 50 construction contractors were in the area when a group of men were performing a natural gas line purge known as a" blowdown". It is yet unknown what possibly could have caused this explosion during this process; however this is a very hazardous process, where natural gas is released from a section of pipelines work to insure proper fuel reception for the facility. Personnel will close several valves to isolate that section of the pipeline and then open a special blowdown valve to release any natural gas, until it is clear of gas.

Construction on the project was close to completion with a projected commercial time frame of July 2010. O&G Industries Incorporated (Torrington, Connecticut) was awarded the contract for overseeing the construction of the 620MW natural gas-fired plant, which consists of a two-on-one combined-cycle design. The equipment supplied for this project consisted of two 185MW Siemens Westinghouse SGT6-5000F with two Supplemental-fired HRSG and a single 275MW Siemens Steam Turbine. With damage to the facility itself yet completely unknown, contacts could not comment on the delay timeframe or setbacks that this explosion has caused. The project was initially projected to have an estimated cost of $985 million. With the scene today, it is quite possible that several million more will have to be spent to repair all the damage to the facility.

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