Event
- Event ID
- 230
- Quality
- Description
- A pinhole leak in the discharge hose of a portable tank containing sodium hydride reacted with water, and released hydrogen that ignited and exploded at a waste management plant.
- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- Macro-region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Date
- Main component involved?
- Hose (Generic)
- How was it involved?
- Leak & Formation Of A Flammable H2-Air Mixture
- Initiating cause
- Accidental Hydrogen Formation
- Root causes
- Unknown (No additional details provided)
Facility
- Application
- Chemical Industry
- Sub-application
- waste management
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
- hose, portable tank
- Location type
- Unknown
- Location description
- Industrial Area
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Emergency action
- The system was monitored by site personnel. When they saw the hydrogen pressure increased to 120 psi (approximately 0.5 MPa), they opened a manual vent. However, the manual vent rate was not able to control the rising pressure. The pressure continued to increase until a 165 psi relief valve opened to control the pressure, because the 150 psi relief valve failed to open.
The fire department arrived at the campus and let the venting process run until all hydrogen had boiled. Then, they inspected the lab space, finding a concentration approximately 0.04% of hydrogen (at 1% of the lower flammability level), allowing everyone to return to the building.
Event Nature
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Presumed ignition source
- Run-away reaction
- Deflagration
- N
- High pressure explosion
- N
- High voltage explosion
- N
References
- Reference & weblink
The link to this technical magazine is lost
JRC assessment
- Sources categories
- FireWorld
