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CSB Investigation Report No. 2011-05-I-KY 2011 Safety Safety
Carbide Industries Electric Arc Furnace Explosion (Louisville)
Carbide Industries, LLC, Louisville, Kentucky
Related equipment → Fired heater (fired_heater)
2Fatalities
2Injuries
ExplosionMechanism code STD
Failure Mode · ISO 14224 Mapping
Damage mechanism (recorded in KB)
ExplosionSTD
ISO functional code (as recorded)
ISO 14224:2016 functional failure code
STD · Structural failure
ISO STD — Structural failure.
1What Happened

Calcium-carbide electric arc furnace cover leaked repeatedly for years without permanent repair; water entered furnace and reacted with carbide, explosion

2Root Cause

Furnace cover cooling-water leaks tolerated for years (repeated patching instead of replacement); water-carbide reaction over-pressured the furnace, hot gases and debris breached the control-room window — 2 killed, 2 injured

3Reliability Lessons (from investigation root cause)
  • The 'Root Cause' above is the core lesson of this accident; not split further.
4Associated Failure Mechanisms (Keywords)
electric arc furnace furnace cover cooling water leak calcium carbide explosion run-to-failure
About the Failure-Mode Code (click to expand)

The recorded code STD is an ISO 14224:2016 functional failure code (describes what the equipment failed to do). The damage mechanism (how it failed) is shown in the Mapping block above. The two are distinct dimensions in ISO 14224.

5Evidence Source (transparent)
Authority:U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB)
Official Report:www.csb.gov ↗
Data Verification:verified_url_csb_case_page_curl200
Report No. 2011-05-I-KY · Data from CSB public investigation conclusions, compiled by Reliability AI, for reliability demonstration purposes only. This case is derived from public incident investigation reports for learning purposes only. AIM does not endorse or guarantee its accuracy.