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Expert Witness Insights by Area of Expertise
6 min read
Areas of Expertise :
Chemical Engineering, Failure Analysis, Industrial Safety, Accident Investigation
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Chemical process failures can involve interacting problems with process conditions, equipment, controls, reactions, and safety systems rather than a single failed component. This article explains how chemical engineering experts reconstruct industrial accidents, evaluate process-safety records, calculations, testing, and competing failure scenarios, and develop technical causation opinions that can be assessed under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.
A chemical process failure may involve more than the component that ultimately ruptured, leaked, ignited, or stopped operating. In industrial accident litigation, a central technical question may be how process conditions, equipment performance, controls, and safeguards interacted when the process moved outside its intended operating conditions.
A qualified chemical engineering expert may review process records, calculations, physical evidence, testing, and equipment information to assess which proposed failure scenarios are consistent with the available evidence.
This guide explains how chemical process failures may be reconstructed, what evidence can be important, and how engineering analysis can help attorneys evaluate competing explanations for an industrial accident.
Chemical process failure analysis may begin by reconstructing the sequence of events rather than focusing only on the equipment that visibly failed.
An engineer may examine:
Temperature, pressure, flow, and level data
Control-system and PLC data
Alarm and control-system records
Process flow diagrams and piping and instrumentation diagrams
Valve, pump, vessel, and relief-system information
Operating, maintenance, and service records
Laboratory and batch records
Photographs, video, damaged equipment, and witness information
From that evidence, the engineer may identify a possible initiating event, such as loss of cooling, unintended chemical mixing, blocked flow, equipment malfunction, or an incorrect process input, then evaluate how the process and its safeguards responded before the release, rupture, fire, or explosion.
For covered processes, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Process Safety Management standard, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.119, includes requirements for process-safety information, process hazard analysis, operating procedures, mechanical integrity, and other process-safety elements.
Industrial Accidents
Process Engineering
Chemical Process Equipment
Chemical Fires and Explosions
Chemical Reaction
Equipment Failure
Pressure Vessels
Hazard Control
Safety Engineering
A chemical process failure may involve more than the component that ultimately ruptured, leaked, ignited, or stopped operating. In industrial accident litigation, a central technical question may be how process conditions, equipment performance, controls, and safeguards interacted when the process moved outside its intended operating conditions.
A qualified chemical engineering expert may review process records, calculations, physical evidence, testing, and equipment information to assess which proposed failure scenarios are consistent with the available evidence.
This guide explains how chemical process failures may be reconstructed, what evidence can be important, and how engineering analysis can help attorneys evaluate competing explanations for an industrial accident.
Chemical process failure analysis may begin by reconstructing the sequence of events rather than focusing only on the equipment that visibly failed.
An engineer may examine:
Temperature, pressure, flow, and level data
Control-system and PLC data
Alarm and control-system records
Process flow diagrams and piping and instrumentation diagrams
Valve, pump, vessel, and relief-system information
Operating, maintenance, and service records
Laboratory and batch records
Photographs, video, damaged equipment, and witness information
From that evidence, the engineer may identify a possible initiating event, such as loss of cooling, unintended chemical mixing, blocked flow, equipment malfunction, or an incorrect process input, then evaluate how the process and its safeguards responded before the release, rupture, fire, or explosion.
For covered processes, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Process Safety Management standard, 29 C.F.R. § 1910.119, includes requirements for process-safety information, process hazard analysis, operating procedures, mechanical integrity, and other process-safety elements.
Process-safety records can help determine whether operating assumptions, equipment conditions, or safeguards changed before an accident.
Relevant documents may include:
Process hazard analyses
Safe operating limits
Mechanical-integrity records
Inspection and testing records
Relief-system design and design-basis information
Instrument inspection and testing records
Operating procedures
Management-of-change records
Pre-startup safety reviews
Prior incident or near-miss investigations
Management-of-change records may document changes to process chemicals, technology, equipment, and procedures, as well as facility changes that affect a covered process, together with the technical basis and the safety and health impact considered for the change.
OSHA's Process Safety Management requirements apply only to covered processes and are subject to the regulation's stated exclusions. The EPA's separate Risk Management Program under 40 C.F.R. Part 68 may also apply to a stationary source that has more than a threshold quantity of a regulated substance in a process.
Engineering calculations can help determine whether a proposed accident sequence is physically consistent with the evidence. Material and energy balances are among the process information that may be considered when evaluating a proposed failure sequence.
Depending on the failure, an expert may also analyze:
Reaction rates and heat generation
Cooling-system capacity
Vapor or gas generation
Fluid flow and pressure differences
Vessel pressure and temperature
Relief-system capacity
Mixing and process timing
Chemical compatibility or decomposition
When chemical reactivity is disputed, laboratory testing may help evaluate thermal stability, decomposition, unintended reactions, or gas generation. Its usefulness depends in part on how closely the tested materials and conditions correspond to those involved in the accident.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board's 2026 final report on the Givaudan Sense Colour explosion provides an investigative example. The Board found that the vent valve failed in the closed position, preventing the normal venting of water vapor and allowing reactor temperature and pressure to continue rising as the sugar decomposition reaction accelerated. As the decomposition reaction accelerated, gas generation exceeded the capacity of the installed emergency pressure-relief system, allowing reactor pressure to continue rising until Reactor 6 ruptured. Under federal law, CSB conclusions, findings, or recommendations relating to an accidental release or investigation may not be admitted as evidence or used in an action or suit for damages arising from a matter mentioned in the report.
A useful accident reconstruction distinguishes the physical failure mechanism from the conditions that contributed to it. For example, a vessel may rupture because of excessive internal pressure, but understanding the failure also requires examining why the pressure increased. Possible contributors include reaction behavior, loss of cooling, inadequate venting, incorrect valve positions, instrumentation problems, process changes, or operating conditions.
Other engineering or technical disciplines may also be relevant, depending on the equipment, controls, materials, and hazards involved. The appropriate expert or combination of experts depends on the disputed technical issues, the failure mechanisms involved, and the qualifications needed to address them.
In federal proceedings governed by the Federal Rules of Evidence, expert testimony is subject to Federal Rule of Evidence 702. The witness must be qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education. The proponent must demonstrate to the court, more likely than not, that the expert's specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact understand the evidence or determine a fact in issue, that the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data, that the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and that the expert's opinion reflects a reliable application of those principles and methods to the facts of the case.
For chemical process failure analysis, reliability may depend on how the expert explains material assumptions and calculations, evaluates relevant alternative explanations, and connects the proposed failure mechanism to the evidence.
Engineering analysis may address technical aspects of causation and process behavior within the expert's qualifications. Its legal significance depends on the governing law and the factfinder's application of that law to the evidence. The engineering analysis itself does not establish negligence or liability.
What evidence may be important to preserve after a chemical plant accident?
Process data, physical evidence, photographs, operating records, equipment information, alarm and control-system records, process diagrams, maintenance records, and safety-analysis documents may all be important. Because electronic process data may be important to accident reconstruction, counsel may wish to address its preservation early in the investigation.
What can a chemical engineering expert evaluate when investigating why a reactor exploded?
A qualified expert may evaluate whether reaction behavior, overpressure, loss of cooling, process controls, relief capacity, or other process conditions are consistent with the explosion evidence. The appropriate analysis depends on the process, available records, physical evidence, and the expert's qualifications.
Does OSHA Process Safety Management apply to every chemical accident?
No. OSHA's Process Safety Management standard applies only to processes that meet its specified coverage criteria and is subject to stated exclusions. Applicability depends on factors such as the chemicals involved, their quantities, the process configuration, and the facility circumstances.
Why are material and energy balances useful in accident reconstruction?
Material and energy balances provide process information that can be compared with recorded operating conditions when evaluating a proposed failure scenario.
Process-safety records can help determine whether operating assumptions, equipment conditions, or safeguards changed before an accident.
Relevant documents may include:
Process hazard analyses
Safe operating limits
Mechanical-integrity records
Inspection and testing records
Relief-system design and design-basis information
Instrument inspection and testing records
Operating procedures
Management-of-change records
Pre-startup safety reviews
Prior incident or near-miss investigations
Management-of-change records may document changes to process chemicals, technology, equipment, and procedures, as well as facility changes that affect a covered process, together with the technical basis and the safety and health impact considered for the change.
OSHA's Process Safety Management requirements apply only to covered processes and are subject to the regulation's stated exclusions. The EPA's separate Risk Management Program under 40 C.F.R. Part 68 may also apply to a stationary source that has more than a threshold quantity of a regulated substance in a process.
Engineering calculations can help determine whether a proposed accident sequence is physically consistent with the evidence. Material and energy balances are among the process information that may be considered when evaluating a proposed failure sequence.
Depending on the failure, an expert may also analyze:
Reaction rates and heat generation
Cooling-system capacity
Vapor or gas generation
Fluid flow and pressure differences
Vessel pressure and temperature
Relief-system capacity
Mixing and process timing
Chemical compatibility or decomposition
When chemical reactivity is disputed, laboratory testing may help evaluate thermal stability, decomposition, unintended reactions, or gas generation. Its usefulness depends in part on how closely the tested materials and conditions correspond to those involved in the accident.
The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board's 2026 final report on the Givaudan Sense Colour explosion provides an investigative example. The Board found that the vent valve failed in the closed position, preventing the normal venting of water vapor and allowing reactor temperature and pressure to continue rising as the sugar decomposition reaction accelerated. As the decomposition reaction accelerated, gas generation exceeded the capacity of the installed emergency pressure-relief system, allowing reactor pressure to continue rising until Reactor 6 ruptured. Under federal law, CSB conclusions, findings, or recommendations relating to an accidental release or investigation may not be admitted as evidence or used in an action or suit for damages arising from a matter mentioned in the report.
A useful accident reconstruction distinguishes the physical failure mechanism from the conditions that contributed to it. For example, a vessel may rupture because of excessive internal pressure, but understanding the failure also requires examining why the pressure increased. Possible contributors include reaction behavior, loss of cooling, inadequate venting, incorrect valve positions, instrumentation problems, process changes, or operating conditions.
Other engineering or technical disciplines may also be relevant, depending on the equipment, controls, materials, and hazards involved. The appropriate expert or combination of experts depends on the disputed technical issues, the failure mechanisms involved, and the qualifications needed to address them.
In federal proceedings governed by the Federal Rules of Evidence, expert testimony is subject to Federal Rule of Evidence 702. The witness must be qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education. The proponent must demonstrate to the court, more likely than not, that the expert's specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact understand the evidence or determine a fact in issue, that the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data, that the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and that the expert's opinion reflects a reliable application of those principles and methods to the facts of the case.
For chemical process failure analysis, reliability may depend on how the expert explains material assumptions and calculations, evaluates relevant alternative explanations, and connects the proposed failure mechanism to the evidence.
Engineering analysis may address technical aspects of causation and process behavior within the expert's qualifications. Its legal significance depends on the governing law and the factfinder's application of that law to the evidence. The engineering analysis itself does not establish negligence or liability.
What evidence may be important to preserve after a chemical plant accident?
Process data, physical evidence, photographs, operating records, equipment information, alarm and control-system records, process diagrams, maintenance records, and safety-analysis documents may all be important. Because electronic process data may be important to accident reconstruction, counsel may wish to address its preservation early in the investigation.
What can a chemical engineering expert evaluate when investigating why a reactor exploded?
A qualified expert may evaluate whether reaction behavior, overpressure, loss of cooling, process controls, relief capacity, or other process conditions are consistent with the explosion evidence. The appropriate analysis depends on the process, available records, physical evidence, and the expert's qualifications.
Does OSHA Process Safety Management apply to every chemical accident?
No. OSHA's Process Safety Management standard applies only to processes that meet its specified coverage criteria and is subject to stated exclusions. Applicability depends on factors such as the chemicals involved, their quantities, the process configuration, and the facility circumstances.
Why are material and energy balances useful in accident reconstruction?
Material and energy balances provide process information that can be compared with recorded operating conditions when evaluating a proposed failure scenario.
Industrial Accidents
Process Engineering
Chemical Process Equipment
Chemical Fires and Explosions
Chemical Reaction
Equipment Failure
Pressure Vessels
Hazard Control
Safety Engineering
Expert Witness Insights by Area of Expertise
Expert Witness Insights by Area of Expertise