The gases industry is given an early New Year warning in the name of safety, with the news that a dissolved acetylene plant in Huizhou city of Guangdong province in China was burnt to ashes at the end of 2019.

The incident at the end of November saw the explosion of a cylinder on the filling deck, as well as subsequent explosions at the site.

No injuries or casualties were reported at the time of the incident, the reason for which was not yet known.

gasworld understands the explosion was the latest in a series of such incidents in China, with three explosions related to acetylene reported in 2018, in July, early August and November.

In the July 2018 case, an acetylene plant in a cement plant in Jinchang city of Gansu province in China exploded, leading to four deaths and two injuries. Maintenance work carried out on the carbide sludge warehouse was cited.