this post was submitted on 17 May 2026
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Sounds like my first internship. Huge, multi-million dollar test loop for compressor validation. Shortly after I left one day a 1/4 inch tube fitting on top of the compressor, part of the oil system, sheared off during a test. While I dont remember the oil pressure I do remember the video a coworker took of the incident.
Oil geysering all the way to the 40ft high ceiling. For 45 minutes.
I get back the next day and the whole test loop is covered in oil. Footprint-wise think two semi trailers next to each other. Oil on the floor, oil in the (water only) trench drains which they had dammed quickly, oil on thousands of feet of piping.
Let me reiterate; I was the intern. Aka, my job description now included "waste oil remediation." It took a week-ish for your boots to stop sticking as you walked and far longer than that to clean the piping.
To top things off this happened in winter and the oil viscosity reflected the cold conditions. Thus as spring and summer rolled in and the temperature increased the pipes started...dripping. Honestly this was years ago and I suspect they're still wiping oil up here and there.
Brutal, oil spills are the worst, even in really small volumes. That stuff will crawl straight up a wall.