Edmonton work site explosion.

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Kiya
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Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

Was speaking with Roy not so long ago just before he was getting ready for sleep.

He decided at the last minute to tell me of an explosion at work...........Oh Geezzz that's the last thing I need to hear, anyways it seems to be the Main Power Transformer that blew (whatever that is) most of the site is out & all workers told to stay at home, 2 thousand folk & more.

Roy works nightshift all the time, there is about 30 of them on nightshift with Roy in the workshop & they have to go in to work as usual.

If you Google Syncrude Canada images it shows the size of the place....huge.

Also he told me of a young woman of 36 yrs was killed around 2 yrs ago with a bear not to far from the site.

Oh wow I hoe I get better news from him tomorrow .

Horus & Grandad I'm sure you'll know about Power Transformers than I ever will...........are they huge or what.........I'm thinking they must be if it knocks out as huge as this one .


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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Horus »

Kiya, I used to build them (not the electrical insides) for what was the old GEC company in Stafford and yes they can go with a bang :o but it tends to be a localised explosion if you get my drift. They usually blow the roof off the building they are in rather than a massive explosion like you may be thinking in an oil refinery. The big problem is that they are made to order and can take many months to design and manufacture and the ones we used to build for the likes of Canada (yes it may be one of mine :oops: ) have to be specially constructed to deal with the extremely low temperatures which can make the steel fracture like glass in such low temperatures, so it is not a quick thing to replace them. I have made them for most of the UK power stations and the North Sea rigs, plus Alaska & Canada where they are most challenging due to weather conditions. Of course it may just be a small sub station transformer that will knock out a lot of stuff on day one , but can usually be replaced fairly quickly. So unless he was in the immediate vicinity and assuming it set nothing else off, then he will be OK. :up
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

Thanks for your info Horus....I think I understand.

I'm not sure how big a blow out it was but, I'm guessing big that mostly everyone has been told to stay at home.

I may get an update from Roy tomorrow all being well :)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Horus »

To give you some idea Kiya, this was one that I had to reverse engineer after it blew up at the Ironbridge Power Plant in the UK. Note the shape of the top flange and how it is all curved, that flange is 150mm wide (6") by 30mm (1-1/4") thick. Luckily the lid held the explosion enough before it blew off, but as you can see the internal pressure was huge. What you are seeing is the empty transformer body after all the electrical parts have been removed. This one was about 12 foot high and the top was around 6 foot by 10 foot and it was a comparitively small one, some are the size of a house. :a82:

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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

GeezO! That one is big enough to scare me & that is just looking at it.

With Roy telling me the whole site is down I'm only guessing it was big.....................I dunno I'm only woman ;) :)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I can concur that when a "transformer" blows it goes off with a HUGE bang! ;) BUT not dangerous.

This is my front yard (when the daffs were blooming). Can you see the green box at the end of the daffs and in front of the black car? That is the transformer that carries the hydro (Roy may be referring to the electricity as HYDRO as that is what it is called here) to the street I live on.

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They do sometimes 'blow' and it is a HUGE BANG but nothing ever happens. Just a BANG and the lights go out ;)

Depends on how they're heating stuff up there in Edmonton (could be electric baseboard heaters) it might be getting kinda cold - BUT - the weather is warm so nights would only be chilly but not cold.

NOTHING at ALL to worry about as Transformers here do blow (which is the Canadian word to use when they BANG off - never heard anybody saying they explode ;) )

As for the bears - well - we have them here in Canada. So long as Roy isn't hanging about garbage dumps he probably won't even see one. Bears do NOT hang about in the open (particularly open rock areas) and where Roy is it isn't forested. It is only the garbage dumps that are attracting the bears around Edmonton.
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

Thanks LLL for your info :)

As I said above I'm only guessing it was big enough for to tell all workers to stay at home except for a few.

Hopefully catch Roy when he comes off nightshift :)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Horus »

It was probably more to do with it shutting down most operations due to having no electrical power supply that everyone was sent home. These things are filled with oil to cool them and there are such high voltages inside that are travelling through closely packed copper bars, these bars are insulated by a thick brown paper tape material to stop them from touching, but occasionally they do 'short' out and volatile gases created inside can explode. As I said, some are huge especially if located on industrial sites and when they do go bang it can make you lose control of your bowels if you are nearby when it happens, :oops: although usually no one gets injured. ;)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

Thanks again Horus :) I can only imagine the bang when it happens :o
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Horus »

Here you go Kiya, this is the sort of size transformer that they may have on their site, note it is on a low loader and this is not a big one! :o
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And this is the sort of stuff that is on the inside ;)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I'm definitely not sure about the rules of the work place in Alberta however here (and I haven't worked here in British Columbia since 2000) from memory IF you come into the workplace and are then sent home you're paid for a full days wage. IF you don't come in in the first place you're paid for 4 hours (I think). We used to have a rule that was something like that so could be the 'how come' everybody was told to stay home (maybe).

Am more than sure rules have changed but am thinking the mass stay home could somehow be related to some sort of Union rule about it all.
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

All is well at the site/workshop, everything up & running again.

No one hurt & everyone back at work again :) :)

Thanks for all your info folks :) :)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

I now found out today Roy isn't in Edmonton but some miles away on the Suncor plant site beside Fort McMurray, wish he would tell me things right :)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

If Roy is in Fort McMurray he is now quite a bit further north than Edmonton. Was he flown in? Or drive? It would have been a LONG isolated drive if he drove but the scenery would be fantastic.
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

As far as I understand he landed at Edmonton then was driven to the Suncor site near Fort McMurray some 4-500 miles north
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

I don't know exactly how far north it is but Ft MacMurray IS quite a bit further north. Not nearly the amenities of Edmonton. Many many men work camp style (meaning 10days in and 4 days out or some such schedule) there. It really IS in the middle of nowhere. I think the road stops just outside Ft M too cause there is nowhere else to go!
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

LLL...That sounds about right :a41: I know he is driven to/back from the living camp to the work site daily.

This coming Sat/Sun will be his first days off after 3 weeks working 24/7 so goodness knows what he will do, but, the 24/7 is normal for off shore work working from home on rigs etc then they have anything 1-3 weeks off when home.

I guess he will catch up on sleep ;)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Horus »

I guess he will catch up on sleep
And count all his money with all that 24/7 work he is doing ;)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by LovelyLadyLux »

OMG - the $$$$$$$$$$$ they men make going into Fort McMurray is over the moon! They work the first 40 hours at regular time (and the regular pay is pretty darn good) THEN they get double time (I think to 60 hours) and then they kick into TRIPLE time!

My brother's boy works in one of these fly in camps (similar to this one) in Saskatchewan. Granted working in MINUS 40+ isn't great (as he said to me trying to describe how cold it is - 'have you ever felt a fart freeze?' - OK he is young ;) ) He has been going in on whatever his schedule is (24 in/ 7 out) and has been able to accumulate enough after 3 and a bit years to basically purchase a house. Not bad for a young guy mid-20ies.

AND - if somebody in Fort McMurray got eaten by a bear that would be about the norm for that area! ;)
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Re: Edmonton work site explosion.

Post by Kiya »

Yes he does get good money when working from home but, he says in some conditions it isn't enough.

LLL " are you being serious" bears beside Fort McMurray :o
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