Hydrogen Fire in an industrial Gas Production and Treatment Plant
A detonation was heard and the hydrogen supply of the site was automatically shut down by the safety devices.The fire was caused by a hydrogen leak and led to the formation of a fireball at the end of a hose at the conditioning station. A plant employee had just disconnected the hose sued for the filling of a semi-trailer. He did so to be able to change a non-return valve which was vibrating noisily. The hydrogen supply had been stopped, the automatic system had been switched to manual mode and the hose had been drained and disconnected. However, the anti-whip cable of the hose remained attached. Pressurized hydrogen entered the disconnected hose, causing the leak.
Event Date
November 23, 2020
Record Quality Indicator
Region / Country
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Causes
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
hydrogen trailer, connecting hose, non-return hydrogen valve
Storage/Process Medium
Location Type
Location description
Unknown
Pre-event Summary
The leak occurred while transferring hydrogen from a stationary storage to he semi-trailer
Currency
Event Nature
Emergency Action
The filling process was suspended until the cause of the incident was found.
Release Type
Release Substance
Hydrogen Release Concentration (%)
100.00
Hole Shape
Ignition Source
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Flame Type
Source Category
References
References
Event description no 56348 in the French database ARIA (accessed October 2021)