Event
- Event ID
- 905
- Quality
- Description
- The fire occurred after a hydrogen released from a venting valve opened for inspection. The hydrogen was at 300 bar and 300C centigrade and between 200 and 300 bar. The hydrogen ignited probably spontaneously and killed 4 workers and injured additional 3.
A similar accident seems to have taken place in the same installation 5 years before. A safety study of the facility has been requested before the start-up of the plant - Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- Fire (No additional details provided)
- Macro-region
- Europe
- Country
- France
- Date
- Main component involved?
- Valve (Vent)
- Initiating cause
- Wrong Operation
- Root causes
- Root CAUSE analysis
- The INITIATING cause was the manual opening of a valve which released hydrogen
The root causes have not been identified even if a general test of the equipment involved in the fire and/or suspected to have caused the accident was carried out.
Facility
- Application
- Chemical Industry
- Sub-application
- alcohols production
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
- venting flange reactor(?)
- Location type
- Unknown
- Location description
- Industrial Area
- Operational condition
- Description of the facility/unit/process/substances
- DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS
The hydrogenation unit was part of an organic chemical industry for the production of raw hydrogenated alcohols from vegetable and animal raw materials.
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of injured persons
- 3
- Number of fatalities
- 4
- Currency
- Euro
- Property loss (onsite)
- 2500000
- Post-event summary
- 4 causalities, 3 injured workers, 2.5 MEuro damage.
Lesson Learnt
- Lesson Learnt
An investigation was performed, which however it is not (anymore) publicly available.
Logic recommendations would be to improve the venting system to avoid mass release and fire, and to conduct a detailed analysis of previous similar event which seems to have taken place in the same installation 5 years previously (in 1984).
Event Nature
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Actual pressure (MPa)
- 30
- Design pressure (MPa)
- 30
- Presumed ignition source
- Auto-ignition
- Flame type
- Jet flame
References
- Reference & weblink
Event description in European database eMARS<br />
https://emars.jrc.ec.europa.eu/en/eMARS/accident/view/16d71de8-dd2d-843… />
(accessed September 2020)Event description in French database ARIA <br />
https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/accident/170/<br />
(accessed September 2020)<br />
JRC assessment
- Sources categories
- eMARS