Event
- Event ID
- 1112
- Quality
- Description
- An LH2 trailer-tractor was returning to the base after a hydrogen delivery at a customer. The trailer was almost empty. Nevertheless, the drivers noticed an increase in the trailer internal pressure. They notified the company support team and pulled into a truck parking place, to avoid the risk of having the safety vent open while traveling. They then performed a controlled, manual venting of the trailer, going from 45 psig (3.1 barg) to 8 psig (0.6 barg). They then returned to the base without further incident.
- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Unignited Hydrogen Release
- Nature of the consequences
- Leak No Ignition (No additional details provided)
- Macro-region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Date
- Main component involved?
- Lh2 Tanker
- How was it involved?
- Manual Venting
- Initiating cause
- Over-Pressurisation (Wrong Operation)
- Root causes
- Root CAUSE analysis
- The INITIAL CAUSE was over-pressurisation of the LH2 tank, which caused an intervention of the drivers to reduce pressure.
BY using as proxy several similar events, ROOT CAUSE could be tentatively attributed to the failure to 'stabilise' the pressure of the tanker after delivery and before leaving customer's site. This is a procedure aiming at avoiding over-pressurisation by cold gaseous hydrogen during the return travel.
Facility
- Application
- Hydrogen Transport And Distribution
- Sub-application
- LH2 tanker
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- Hydrogen Transport (No additional details provided)
- All components affected
- vacuum thermal insulation
- Location type
- Open
- Operational condition
- Pre-event occurrences
- The trailer was almost empty, after delivery.
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Environmental damage
- 0
- Currency
- US$
- Property loss (onsite)
- 1800
- Property loss (offsite)
- 0
- Post-event summary
- A negligible amount of hydrogen was released.
Event Nature
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Actual pressure (MPa)
- 0.3
- Presumed ignition source
- No ignition
References
- Reference & weblink
Incident I-2000070308 of the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration PHMSA: <br />
https://portal.phmsa.dot.gov/analytics/saw.dll?Portalpages&PortalPath=%… />
(accessed September 2024)
JRC assessment
- Sources categories
- PHMSA
