← Back to KB navigation
CSB Investigation
Report No. 2018-02-I-WI
2018
Safety Safety
Husky Superior Refinery FCC Main Air Blower Trip Explosion
Husky Energy Superior Refinery, Superior, Wisconsin
Related equipment → Fan / Blower (fan_blower)
0Fatalities
36Injuries
ExplosionMechanism code OTH
⌗Failure Mode · ISO 14224 Mapping
Damage mechanism (recorded in KB)
ExplosionOTH
ISO functional code (as recorded)
ISO 14224:2016 functional failure code
OTH · Other
ISO OTH — Other.
1What Happened
FCC main air blower trip -> transient upset -> absorber column explosion + asphalt fire
2Root Cause
Inadequate main air blower trip emergency procedure + missing transient-operation safeguards + insufficient critical-parameter monitoring
3Reliability Lessons (from investigation root cause)
- Inadequate main air blower trip emergency procedure
- missing transient-operation safeguards
- insufficient critical-parameter monitoring
4Associated Failure Mechanisms (Keywords)
blower main air blower fan trip FCC transient operation surge blade
About the Failure-Mode Code (click to expand)
The recorded code OTH 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_report_2026-07-20
↗Related Failure Modes · Traceability