Skip to main content

Natural Hydrogen Fire (1074)

In 1987, well diggers had drilled a well for water, but had given up on one dry borehole at a depth of 108 meters. According to the source reported in the References, wind was coming out of the hole. When one driller peered into the hole while smoking a cigarette, the so-called wind exploded in his face. A huge fire followed, without smoke, looking bluish at daytime and colour and goldish at night. The crew needed weeks before being able to stop the fire and cap the well. The well remained capped until 2007, when well gas was analysed and revealed to consist in hydrogen with a purity of 98%.

Fire on a Hydrogen Compressor of Refinery (1070)

The broke out at a hydrogen compressor of the reforming unit of the refinery. Following the safety procedures, the emergency stop of the unit was activated and the unit was decompressed using a safety flare. The emergency plan was kept for an hour. A security perimeter is in place. The isolation of the compressor was started automatically. The isolation of the discharge circuit was successful, but the suction circuit could only be partially closed due to a block of a valve. The operators then closed manually the suction valve, by removing the excess of grease that had been applied to it.

Fire in the Electrical Transformer of a Metallurgical Plant (1068)

A fire broke out on a transformer transforming 225,000 V into 15,000 V in a metallurgical plant. This transformer supplies electrical power the site and to a neighbouring factory. In the following three hours, staff brought the fire under control with CO2 extinguishers, the internal emergency plan was activated, and the firefighters ventilated the premises and took readings of the flames using a thermal camera. Meanwhile, however, the shutdown of the electrical installation caused the stop of the operation of an electrolysis unit using zinc sulphate.

Fire on the Hydrodesulfurization Unit of a Refinery (1066)

Around 4 a.m., a major leak occurred at the outlet of the diesel hydrodesulfurization furnace in a refinery. The goal of this unit is to lower the sulfur content of diesel fuels produced in other units, by a catalytic reaction in the presence of hydrogen. At the moment of the leak the furnace was restarting. The alarms of the temperature sensors at the oven outlet were triggered. At 4:08 a.m., the operator shut down the hydrogen compressors and diesel charging pumps, closed the supply valves and called the emergency status. The first emergency operation was to decompress the unit.

Cooling Power Loss in a Foundry (1061)

This near miss occurred at metal smelting unit of a foundry. At 9:45 a.m., due to a power outage, the cooling pumps of two furnaces containing nickel and chromium stopped. One of the two furnaces was at the end of the smelting cycle. The temperature of the metal was 1300C. Due to the stop of the cooling system, water from the public network took over the cooling function, but was not efficient, causing the cooling coil to overheat.

Blind Flange Connection Failure Causes Hydrogen Fire During Pipeline Inspection (1060)

An in-line inspection of the hydrogen pipeline was being conducted and prior to the last run of the in-line inspection tool (mfl), hydrogen gas was released and ignited from a blind flange connection failure on a temporary separator filter installed at the receiver site. The fire was immediately identified by on-site personnel. There were no injuries. The pipeline section was isolated and de-pressurised to the facility flare. Local emergency responders were dispatched and contained and extinguished the fire. The fire affected the station piping and equipment in the surrounding area.

Explosion of a Storage Vessel in a Hydrogen Production Facility (1053)

This incident occurred at the hydrogen production and storage unit of (probably) a power plant using hydrogen as a coolant of the turbine-generator system. Hydrogen was produced probably by water electrolysis (the source does not say it) and stored in 6 steel tanks. One of the six hydrogen storage tanks exploded killing a staff member. The investigation determined that a mixing of hydrogen and oxygen occurred in the tank. The needle valve of the hydrogen and oxygen pressure regulator as jammed, and the oxygen leaked into the hydrogen main supply line and entered the hydrogen tank.

Explosion in a Process Gases Line of a Fertilizers Production Plant (1051)

A gas release occurred in the building for the recirculation of processes gas. The gas was a mixture of hydrogen and nitrogen. It occurred at the outlet valve, during works aiming to replace it. This caused the creation of an explosive gas mixture and the surrounding spaces. The defective valve has been identified several years before, its poor design and ageing caused the gas leakage. The ignition took place with 9 minutes delay after initial leakage.

Explosion at a Methanation Reactor (1047)

The day before the incident, the outlet pipe connected to methanation reactor started leaking gas, which contains hydrogen. The leak was temporarily eliminated by a pressurised plug. On the day of the incident, the pipe leaked again, and the same plugging method was still used to stop the leak. This occurred without shutting down the unit and taking safety measures. Approximately one hour later, a sudden explosion occurred at the inlet line of the methanation reactor.

Explosion and Fire at a Diesel Hydrogenation Plant (1044)

The incident affected the raw material buffer tank (design pressure 0.38 MPa) of a diesel hydrogenation unit in a refinery. This buffer tank is located between the hydrogenation reactor and the raw material storage tank. During pressure fluctuations in the lubricating oil system of a hydrogen compressor, the operator handled the situation improperly, resulting in an abnormal shutdown of the compressor, causing the hydrogen feed pump to interlock and stop.After the pump interlocked, the outlet valve was not closed in time and the two check valves failed.
Subscribe to Abnormal
We are professional and reliable provider since we offer customers the most powerful and beautiful themes. Besides, we always catch the latest technology and adapt to follow world’s new trends to deliver the best themes to the market.

Contact info

We are the leaders in the building industries and factories. We're word wide. We never give up on the challenges.

Recent Posts