At chemical company Chevron Phillips in Tessenderlo, Belgium (about 30 kilometers below Luyksgestel), a leak was created on Thursday morning, releasing the strong fragrance Mercaptan. The incident lasted only four minutes, but the consequences were great: the penetrating stink spread rapidly across the border, so that residents of Brabant were also woken up with an NL-Alert. They were advised to close windows and doors. Chevron Phillips says that a defective valve was the cause and apologizes.
Mercaptan, the substance that was released on Thursday morning at the Tessenderlo location, is known for its penetrating scent. “It is the material that gives natural gas that typical gas smell,” explains Patrick Wijnen, plant manager At Chevron Phillips, off. “It is a very concentrated product and has to be diluted two hundred million times if it is added to natural guest.”
No danger
The substance now escaped in concentrated form. Although the leak only lasted four minutes, the scent spread rapidly to Brabant. “It is a very intense, pungent air. The amount of Mercaptan that has been released is far above what is normally added to natural gas, that is only about a few molecules,” explains Wijnen. “This created a cloud that spread the scent over a great distance.” Wijnen emphasizes that there is no danger to health. “The substance does not give a risk for people.”
Technical
Exactly how the leak could arise at Chevron Phillips is still being investigated. “We assume a technical incident. A valve that should have closed did not function properly, creating a leak.”
Wijnen says he understands the choice of the Dutch government to send an NL-Alert. “I can imagine that there are panic in people who smoke the scent. Here too at the location, we initially thought of a gas leak, because of the typical scent. It is therefore not surprising that this caused discomfort and worries in Brabant. We want to apologize for that. We take measures to prevent this from happening again.”