T2 Laboratories Inc. of 3043 Faye Road, Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, USA, was a facility that specialized in the design and manufacture of specialty chemicals primarily for gasoline additive

Gasoline additive

Gasoline additives increase gasoline's octane rating or act as corrosion inhibitors or lubricants, thus allowing the use of higher compression ratios for greater efficiency and power, however some carry heavy environmental risks...

s. The company cites its low environmental impact specialty chemicals intended to replace more toxic and dangerous industrial chemicals.

On December 19, 2007, a massive explosion

Explosion

An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...

 and fire

Conflagration

A conflagration or a blaze is an uncontrolled burning that threatens human life, health, or property. A conflagration can be accidentally begun, naturally caused , or intentionally created . Arson can be accomplished for the purpose of sabotage or diversion, and also can be the consequence of...

 killed four people in what is considered the U.S.'s most severe industrial accident in nearly three years. The explosion's force was equivalent to detonating about a ton of TNT and it spread debris up to a mile from the plant. Fourteen people were hospitalized for chemical exposure or their injuries after the blast.

Following the explosion, every hazardous-materials unit in Jacksonville and over 100 firefighter

Firefighter

Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

s fought the ensuing blaze, which a spokesman termed a "hellish inferno".

The blast killed Robert Scott Gallagher; Charles Budds Bolchoz, 48; Karey Renard Henry, 35; and Parrish Lamar Ashley, 36. At the time of his death, Gallagher was Marketing Director for T2 Labs.

T2 Laboratories' chemical reactor

Chemical reactor

In chemical engineering, chemical reactors are vessels designed to contain chemical reactions. The design of a chemical reactor deals with multiple aspects of chemical engineering. Chemical engineers design reactors to maximize net present value for the given reaction...

 ruptured, according to a preliminary investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety Board

U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, also known as the Chemical Safety Board or CSB, is an independent U.S. federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the agency's board members are appointed by the president and...

. The investigators reported their belief that the reactor ruptured during the production of a gasoline additive.

The explosion occurred in a 2500 gallon batch reactor

Batch reactor

The Batch reactor is the generic term for a type of vessel widely used in the process industries. Its name is something of a misnomer since vessels of this type are used for a variety of process operations such as solids dissolution, product mixing, chemical reactions, batch distillation,...

 during production of methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl

Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl

Methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl is an organomanganese compound with the formula Mn3. Marketed initially in 1958 as a supplement to the gasoline additive tetraethyl lead to increase the fuel's octane rating, MMT was later used in unleaded gasoline...

. The reactor cooling system, which lacked backups, failed; this led to a thermal runaway

Thermal runaway

Thermal runaway refers to a situation where an increase in temperature changes the conditions in a way that causes a further increase in temperature, often leading to a destructive result...

.

In September 2009, a report was released by the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board as to the cause of the accident.