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Clean Hydrogen Partnership

Fire from falling cylinders

Event

Event ID
297
Quality
Description
A vehicle (non-further specified) carrying two hydrogen gas cylinders had to brake suddenly. The two cylinders tipped over, damaging the valve and causing hydrogen gas to leak out and ignite.
The vehicle was completely burned, no one was injured. The cylinders had fallen over because not secured.
Event Initiating system
Classification of the physical effects
Hydrogen Release and Ignition
Nature of the consequences
Fire (No additional details provided)
Macro-region
Asia
Country
Japan
Date
Main component involved?
Valve (Generic)
How was it involved?
Rupture & Formation Of A Flammable H2-Air Mixture
Initiating cause
Impact, Rollover, Crash
Root causes
Root CAUSE analysis
The INITIATING was a road event (sudden braking)
The ROOT CAUSE was not having secured the cylinders to the vehicle structure, to avoid they could fly around.

Facility

Application
Hydrogen Transport And Distribution
Sub-application
CGH2 cylinders truck
Hydrogen supply chain stage
Hydrogen Transport (No additional details provided)
All components affected
cylinder valves
Location type
Open
Operational condition

Emergency & Consequences

Number of injured persons
0
Number of fatalities
0
Emergency action
The emergency stop was activated, and the facility was shut down for safety. This prevented the bottom valve from being reopened and triggered the automatic sprinkler system in the unloading area. This was supplemented by a fire truck from the internal emergency services. The emergency plan was activated, and the 127 employees on site were evacuated. A 900 m safety perimeter was established, and the road was closed.

Once the operations were completed, the emergency plan was deactivated approximately 7 hours later.

Event Nature

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

References

Reference & weblink

High Pressure Gas Accident Cases Database of the KHK (High Pressure Gas Safety Association): <br />
https://www.khk.or.jp/public_information/incident_investigation/hpg_inc… />
(accessed May 2025)

JRC assessment