Explosion at a Blast Furnace Due to Unintended Hydrogen Evolution
A violent explosion occurred at a blast furnace. The explosion occurred while the blast furnace was being cleaned at the end of casting. For this purpose, worker poured the contents of a casting ladle, comprising slag and cinders, into a pit situated nearby. The pit contained more water than usual due to a considerable amount of rain in the preceding days.The heat of the slag apparently caused dissociation of the oxygen and hydrogen of the water, and he hydrogen then exploded, sending slag flying as far as 10-20 m. As a result more than 100 houses were hit by slag debris, and the explosion also caused several fires.
Event Date
October 19, 1982
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Cause Comments
Possibly, the amount of rain from the preceding days and the heat of the slag triggered formation of oxygen and hydrogen.
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
chromatographer, compressed hydrogen storage
Storage/Process Medium
Location Type
Location description
Unknown
Operational Condition
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
Unknown
Event Nature
Emergency Action
Unknown
Release Type
Release Substance
Ignition Source
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
source lost