Event
- Event ID
- 1230
- Quality
- Description
- A hydrogen explosion occurred at a company producing soyabean oils. The exact location and causes are unknown, the only fact being reported was that the hydrogen involved a hydrogen tank conversion process, and that the tank was outside the company buildings. It is unclear if the tank was a hydrogen storage tank, or a reactor for hydrogenation of oil.
One fatality. - Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- Macro-region
- Asia
- Country
- United States
- Date
- Main component involved?
- Unknown
- How was it involved?
- Unknown
- Initiating cause
- Unknown
- Root causes
- Unknown (No additional details provided)
Facility
- Application
- Chemical Industry
- Sub-application
- Food production
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
- tank
- Location type
- Unknown
- Operational condition
- Unknown (No additional details provided)
- Description of the facility/unit/process/substances
- Part of the processes managed in the affected plant were bleaching, hydrogenation, deodorisation and refinery of soybean oil. The hydrogenation process consisted in mixing unsaturated oil and hydrogen at temperature ranging between 140C to 250 C, in presence of a metal catalyst. Liquid vegetable oils contain fatty acids with double bonds between carbon atoms. Hydrogen breaks the double bonds and attach to the carbons, converting the unsaturated fat into saturated or less unsaturated fat.
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Number of fatalities
- 1
Event Nature
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Presumed ignition source
- Not reported
References
- Reference & weblink
WLKY News on MSN<br />
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/get-the-facts-shively-plant-explosion… />
(accessed November 2025)Hydrogen Insight news of 22 September 2025<br />
https://www.hydrogeninsight.com/innovation/only-15-of-hydrogen-related-… />
(Accessed January 2025)
JRC assessment
- Sources categories
- News