Explosion at a Hydrogen Storage of a Research Facility
On September 1, 1992, an explosion in this facility occurred due to an accidental release of hydrogen at the Institute of Energy Conversion, University of Delaware, US. Hydrogen gas was used in research reactors to deposit amorphous silicon thin-films. The explosion occurred during the replacement of a hydrogen cylinder which was stored in a ventilated gas cabinet equipped with sprinklers. This and other hazardous gases flowed to an enclosed reactor in an adjacent room. During a cylinder change-out, a quantity of high pressure hydrogen gas was accidentally released through a line used for vacuum purging. The explosion occurred when a vacuum bellows burst releasing the gas into the reactor enclosure. The Plexiglas walls of the reactor enclosure blew outward causing extensive damage to the laboratory. No one was in the room at the time of the incident and no one was injured.
Event Date
September 1, 1992
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Cause Comments
The root cause was related to the absence of a formal policy for the systematic oversight of gas handling and safety systems. The direct cause resulted from an operator error in opening a valve in the wrong sequence resulting in the discharge of hydrogen at pressure >1100 psi through an open valve into a vacuum system not rated for this amount of pressure.
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Storage/Process Medium
Location Type
Location description
Unknown
Operational Condition
Pre-event Summary
The explosion occurred during the replacement of a hydrogen cylinder which was stored in a ventilated gas cabinet equipped with sprinklers.
Consequences
Number of Injured Persons
2
Currency
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
In the aftermath of this incident, a number of technical modifications were made to the gas handling system as a follow-up to the accident (see Paul Moskowitz et al. in the reference for details).According to the accident report, the accident was caused by the absence of a formal and regular review of the administrative, engineering and personnel programs associated with the compressed gas systems. Therefore, most important improvement required at organizational level are:1.establishment of policies to ensure the continuing surveillance of maintenance operations and review of the condition of all components in the gas handling train. 2.Routine re-evaluation of the equipment and procedures should be conducted in light of the latest advances in administrative, engineering and personnel programs.
Event Nature
Emergency Action
Unknown
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
Moskowitz, P., Buchanan, W. and Shafarman, W., 1994. Lessons learned from a hydrogen explosion at a photovoltaic research facility. Proceedings of 1994 IEEE 1st World Conference on Photovoltaic Energy Conversion - WCPEC (A Joint Conference of PVSC, PVSEC and PSEC)