Explosion in a industrial gases production plant

Event

Event ID: 259
Quality: 2
Description: Gaseous hydrogen leaked from an oil pump part of the filling and conditioning system in a industrial gases production plant. The released hydrogen ignited and exploded.
The cause has been a human error: an operator turned gave a valve a ¼ turn, connecting containers, which were not empty, with the pump.
The hydrogen release occurred in an open space under an awning. This caused the flammable mixture to explode producing a fireball of 10 m of diameter. 2 workers were injured but the material damage was limited to a door and a small room.
Event Initiating system: Hydrogen System Initiating Event
Classification of the physical effects: Hydrogen Release and Ignition
Nature of the consequences: Explosion
Macro-region: Europe
Country: France
Date: 08/04/1993
Main component involved?: Valve (Generic)
Initiating cause: Wrong Operation
Root causes: Human Factors
Root CAUSE analysis: A valve was misplaced by the operator, releasing hydrogen under the canopy.

Application: Hydrogen Production
Sub-application: industrial gases production
Hydrogen supply chain stage: Hydrogen Transfer (No additional details provided)
All components affected: Oil pump, gaseous hydrogen storage, pump
Location type: Semiconfined
Location description: Industrial Area
Operational condition: Normal

Number of injured persons: 2
Number of fatalities: 0
Post-event summary: First degree burns for two employees
Emergency action: No attempt to stop the leak was made, because the safest way to deal with was to allow hydrogen to vent and empty the cylinders without

Reference & weblink: Event description in the French database ARIA<br />
https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/accident/4411/<br />
(accessed December 2020)<br />