Event
- Event ID
- 19
- Quality
- Description
- A welder was welding a stainless steel drain pipe with an arc welder, above a sulphuric acid storage tank. When he lowered the pipe, the hydrogen gas in tank ignited causing an explosion and one casualty
- 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?
- Chemical Storage Tank (H2so4)
- How was it involved?
- Internal Explosion (H2-Air Mixture)
- Initiating cause
- Wrong Operation
- Root causes
- Root CAUSE analysis
- The INITATING CAUSE was the fire started by igniting hydrogen contained in a tank.
The source upon which his event is based, reported as ROOT CAUSES: management-failure, wrong-position, wrong-labelled.
Facility
- Application
- Unknown
- Sub-application
- unspecified
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
- suphuric acid tank
- Location type
- Unknown
- Location description
- Industrial Area
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Number of fatalities
- 1
- Emergency action
- Major fires in the unit burned themselves out in few minutes but one fire lasted for eight hours, was fuelled by benzene flowing out of a tank connected to a damaged flange which could be isolated.
- Emergency evaluation
- According to the referred source, the outside response was very effectively coordinated through the local Chemical Valley Emergency Control Organization.
The emergency response was rapid and neighbouring companies and the neighbouring city provided additional fire-fighting equipment ,such as a directed-foam truck,
Since the power to the affected unit was shut off, the oily water separator pumps stopped and caused firewater to back up on the unit. This water plus debris and scaffolding from the
turnaround combined to hinder firefighting.
Event Nature
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Actual pressure (MPa)
- n.a.
- Design pressure (MPa)
- n.a.
- Presumed ignition source
- Welding
References
- Reference & weblink
Source unvailable
JRC assessment
- Sources categories
- FACTS
