These animations were created for the Engineering Disasters #20 episode of the Modern Marvels series airing on The History Channel. They are presented here without audio to avoid intellectual property issues. All content is the original work of Rickert Digital Design except as noted.

Act 1

Act 1 tells the story of a disastrous fire at a petroleum refinery in Texas City, Texas. Some models are adapted from a third-party product.

A petroleum distillation tower is fed with liquid hydrocarbons which are heated. As they evaporate, the lighter components rise to the top of the tower while the heavier components remain at the bottom.

In the early morning, the level of liquid in the tower reaches just above seven feet, triggering an alarm. When the level reaches nine feet, another alarm should have alerted the operators to the condition, but the alarm fails. When the level passes ten feet, it is beyond the range of the tower's sensors.

Liquid leaving the tower enters a heat exchanger, where it transfers heat to liquid about to enter the tower.