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CSB Investigation Report No. 2024-01-I-CA 2023 Safety Safety
Marathon Martinez Renewables Heater Tube Rupture Fire
Marathon Martinez Renewables, Martinez, California
Related equipment → Fired heater (fired_heater)
0Fatalities
1Injuries
High-temp ruptureMechanism code STD
Failure Mode · ISO 14224 Mapping
Damage mechanism (recorded in KB)
High-temp ruptureSTD
ISO functional code (as recorded)
ISO 14224:2016 functional failure code
STD · Structural failure
ISO STD — Structural failure.
1What Happened

Hydrotreater recirculation heater tube overheat rupture -> renewables diesel/hydrogen leak and fire

2Root Cause

Mispositioned valve caused low-flow maldistribution + blocked combustion air duct reburn -> tube over-temperature rupture

3Reliability Lessons (from investigation root cause)
  • Mispositioned valve caused low-flow maldistribution
  • blocked combustion air duct reburn -> tube over-temperature rupture
4Associated Failure Mechanisms (Keywords)
heater tube rupture overheat creep leak wall thinning reburn
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_report_2026-07-20
Report No. 2024-01-I-CA · 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.