Explosion at a Rocket Center
Explosion accident while testing liquid water turbo-pump - A fire occurred during testing of a turbine pump which is a part of a rocket engine. On the day of the incident, seven seconds after the rpm of the pump reached its steady state (45,000 rpm), excessive vibration was detected. The pump was immediately stopped but a loud bang was heard. The operator started to apply nitrogen gas. One and a half minutes after the bang, flames were seen in front of the testing building which came from burning cables. Hydrogen gas discharged from the vent stack on a liquid hydrogen tank also caught fire.
Event Date
November 17, 1987
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
water pump, rocket engine, liquid hydrogen tank
Location Type
Location description
Unknown
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
Unknown
Event Nature
Emergency Action
Unknown
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
Orignal source lost. RISCAD is closed.