Event
- Event ID
- 394
- Quality
- Description
- Following loading of propellant run tanks, the insulation jacket (filled with perlite) on the conmon vent and pressurisation line for the LH2 storage tank burst.
[Ordin, NASA (1974)] - 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?
- Cryogenic Insulation Shell
- How was it involved?
- Internal Explosion (Hp Explosion)
- Initiating cause
- Over-Pressurisation (Loss Of Vacuum)
- Root causes
- Root CAUSE analysis
- The pressure in the jacket increased due to earlier entrance of air due to cryo-pumping, its liquefaction and then expanding liquid. There was a burst disk installed on the jacket, but it failed to relieve due to ice formation. The ROOT CAUSE could be attributed to shortcoming of the design and of regular inspection and maintenance.
Facility
- Application
- Non-Road Vehicles
- Sub-application
- Aerospace
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
- insulation jacket, vent and presurisation line
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Environmental damage
- 0
- Property loss (offsite)
- 0
Lesson Learnt
- Lesson Learnt
- This is a rare case of failure to open of a burst disk installed on an insulation jacket. The mode of failure, nevertheless, is common to other events where the burst disk or other pressure relief devices was hindered to activate due to formation of ice.
Event Nature
- Release type
- no release
- Released amount
- 0
- Presumed ignition source
- Not reported
- Ignition delay
- Y
References
- Reference & weblink
Mishap no 56 in <br />
P. L. Ordin, Review of hydrogen accidents and incidents in NASA operations, 1974, NASA TM X-71565<br />
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19740020344Lowesmith et al., Safety issues of the liquefaction, storage and transportation of liquid hydrogen: An analysis of incidents and HAZIDS, Int. J. Hydrogen energy (2014) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.08.002
Hankinson and Lowesmith, Qualitative Risk Assessment of Hydrogen Liquefaction, Storage and Transportation, FCH JU project IDEALHY, Deliverable 3.10 (2013)<br />
confidential<br />
(accessed October 2025)
JRC assessment
- Sources categories
- ORDIN
