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Clean Hydrogen Partnership

Hydrogen tank explosion

Event

Event ID
134
Quality
Description
A hydrogen tank exploded and caught fire at a chemical plant.
Event Initiating system
Classification of the physical effects
Hydrogen Release and Ignition
Nature of the consequences
Macro-region
North America
Country
Canada
Date
Main component involved?
Cgh2 Storage Vessel
How was it involved?
Rupture & Formation Of A Flammable H2-Air Mixture
Initiating cause
Unknown
Root causes
Unknown (No additional details provided)

Facility

Application
Chemical Industry
Sub-application
Not specified
Hydrogen supply chain stage
Hydrogen Storage (No additional details provided)
All components affected
hydrogen tank
Location type
Unknown
Location description
Industrial Area
Operational condition

Emergency & Consequences

Number of injured persons
0
Number of fatalities
0
Emergency action
The alarm was given by a construction worker who was nearby and heard a loud "bang".
The plant supervisor inspected the scene and ordered an emergency stop.
13:01, an emergency stop operation was started in the instrument room.
13:10 The affected tower could be disconnected from other units and the emergency release valve was opened to reduce the tower pressure from 50 bar to 1.5 bar. After decompression, cooling water was sprinkled and water was injected into the tower to raise the liquid level above the leak point.
13:25 The fire was extinguished

Event Nature

Release type
gas
Involved substances (% vol)
H2 100%
Presumed ignition source
Not reported

References

Reference & weblink

The link to this technical magazine is lost

JRC assessment