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An explosion in a spray dryer machine is suspected to have caused the industrial disaster at the pharmaceutical unit of Sigachi Industries at Pashamylaram near Hyderabad, killing at least 35 people.
Y Nagi Reddy, Director General of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) in Telangana, told the media that the blast happened in the factory’s Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) drying unit.
“MCC is powdered and dried in the processing unit. During the processing some error could’ve happened, followed by the blast in the drying unit. It was a three-floor building, with the drying unit also having three floors. Industrial experts say that during the drying process or air handling process, pressure could have built up followed by blasting of material, which led to blasting of the entire air handling unit as well as the industrial building,” Nagi Reddy said.
Such was the impact of the explosion that the three-storey structure was razed to the ground, and some of the workers were thrown away to a distance of up to 50 feet.
Sigachi Industries Ltd (SIL) is one of the largest manufacturers of Microcrystalline Cellulose (MCC) worldwide and has three multi-locational facilities in Telangana and Gujarat. Sigachi has a presence in pharmaceuticals, food, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics.
MCC is a commonly used excipient in the pharmaceutical industry. It is used as a bulking agent in food production, as well as in vitamin supplements or tablets.
While authorities have launched an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the blast, officials in the industries department believe that a massive temperature buildup in the spray dryer may have caused the explosion in the MCC drying unit.
A spray dryer turns a liquid or slurry into a dried powder by atomising it into a hot gas stream. As a chemical process in a spray dryer leads to a sharp rise in temperature, a blow air handler is used to regulate airflow and temperature.
Experts say the blow air handler has to be cleaned at regular intervals for the system to work effectively. They suspect that a lack of proper cleaning may have resulted in the temperature rising to the highest level in the spray dryer, and this could have triggered the explosion, according to IANS.
The officials believe that the temperature at the time of the explosion had reached 700-800 degrees Celsius.
Sigachi’s factory at Pashamylaram has been in operation for the last four decades. Spread over about four acres in the industrial cluster, it had four blocks.
The factory had 189 employees, with the majority hailing from northern Indian states. About 145 workers were reportedly present in the premises on Monday morning when the blast claimed more than 30 lives and left 35 others injured.
Sigachi announced on Monday that following the fire accident, the operations at its Hyderabad plant are being paused for an estimated 90 days to facilitate the replacement and restoration of affected equipment and structures.
In a filing to the stock exchange, it said that the incident also caused damage to certain ancillary equipment and civil structures within the facility located in IDA Pashamylaram, Phase -1.
The company said it is coordinating with relevant authorities to ensure all safety and support protocols are followed.