Release from a hydrogen tank

Compressed hydrogen was released from a storage system due to the rupture of a Bourdon-type pressure gauge.

[Zalosh and Short, 1978]

hydrogen storage, pressure gauge

DESCRIPTION OF THE BOURDON PRINCIPLE FOR PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS
“A Bourdon pressure gauge uses the principle that a flattened tube tends to straighten or regain its circular form in cross-section when pressurized. (A party horn illustrates this principle.) … The strain of the material of the tube is magnified by forming the tube into a C shape or even a helix, such that the entire tube tends to straighten out or uncoil elastically as it is pressurized… Bourdon tubes measures gauge pressure, relative to ambient atmospheric pressure, as opposed to absolute pressure; vacuum is sensed as a reverse motion.”
[from Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pressure_measurement#Bourdon_gauge , accessed November2025)]

Inside the plant, the air conditioning system in the control room was switched to recirculated air, the electrical power supply was switched off, the plant was depressurized, emptied and flushed with nitrogen. The plant fire brigade only used water as an extinguishing agent, mainly to cool plant components and to contain the fire. The extinguishing water was retained and only released for discharge after analysis.
Outside the facility, the road to the plant was cordoned off by the police as a precautionary measure and air quality measurements were taken in the surrounding area.

Another case of hydrogen accidental releases due to rupture of the bourdon tube are HIAD_ 428, for which it is also known that the wrong choice of the type of steel used for the tube caused its hydrogen embrittlement and eventually its failure.