Work underway to remove leaked sulphuric acid in Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi
The officials along with an expert team had commenced the work of removing the sulphuric acid that leaked from the Sterlite Copper plant, on Monday. It is suspected more than 20,000 litres of sulphuric acid leaked from the container due to its corrosive nature.
By : migrator
Update: 2018-06-18 09:43 GMT
Thoothukudi
After Sterlite Copper was sealed by the Tamil Nadu government following the GO (Government Order) passed to permanently shut down the plant, operations were halted and various acids which were used as raw materials in the copper smelter plant were stored in large containers as the company was not given time to remove them.
On Saturday evening there was a leak in one of the containers which had sulphuric acid. The leak was noticed by the policemen posted by the TN government for security purpose. The police had informed the Sterlite management following which they submitted a report to the district administration about the leak.
Following which Thoothukudi Collector, Sandeep Nanduri, sent a team led by Thoothukudi sub-collector, Prasanth, to inspect the leak and the leak was confirmed. In the night officials held meeting about safe disposal of the acid.
On Monday morning, the team led by Prasanth had gone inside Sterlite Copper and commenced the remedial works. In the meantime, an official who went inside Sterlite Copper, said that because the sulphuric acid was stored inside the container for a long time the acid had lost its acidic nature and so the corrosive power had diminished.
Also, it is estimated that 20,000 litres of acid might have been leaked and many special containers used for transporting acids would be roped in to remove the acid completely.
While addressing the media, Sandeep Nanduri said that the work would likely be completed by Tuesday afternoon and all the leaked acidic contents would be removed out of the plant.
The sulphuric acid that is taken out from the Sterlite plant is used as raw material by others, so the acid would be bought by other companies in Thoothukudi.
Sterlite is in talks with others and by tomorrow the sulphuric acid would be sold. The responsibility of the district administration lies till the point where the leaked sulphuric acid is taken out safely from Sterlite Copper, said Collector.
How the leak would have happened?
The sulphuric acid was stored in a container with height and diameter of 30 feet surrounded by a thick wall, called dyke, which has twice the capacity of the container. The leak was noticed in the pipe that was carrying sulphuric acid to the container.
Experts suggest that leak might have been due to the corrosive nature of the acid. A member of the inspection team said that since sulphuric acid was kept stagnant for a long time the acid would have corroded the pipe which would have resulted in the leak.
The acid had entered the brick structure and got filled because of the leak. However, due to constant chemical reaction, the sulphuric acid had lost its acidic nature and at present it has become less corrosive, said the expert.
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