An explosion and fire occurred at a 3000-gallon (approx. 11400 l) reactor, part of the production process of linear alkyl benzene (LAB), Process materials released from the various vessels and piping fuelled a subsequent fire that took approximately 2 hours to extinguish.As reported by Ali Reza (Ali Reza et al., 2007, see References), before the explosion, the bottom of the reactor was plugged with approximately 180 gallons (approx. 800 l) of a sludge-like mixture of coarse aluminum powder, aluminum chloride and various hydrocarbons.

The event occurred at one of the unit producing iron powder, consisting of a furnace with a running belt for the powder, kept under hydrogen atmosphere to reduce and purify the metal. The hydrogen was supplied to the furnace through a pipeline running in a trench below the furnace. A corroded section of this pipeline released hydrogen which could cumulated in the covered trench for at least 30 before igniting. The following hydrogen explosion projected into the atmosphere a large quantity of iron dust, which also ignited.

The accident occurred at a distillate dewaxing Unit (MDDW) of the refinery, during the operation of regeneration of the catalyst. To perform this operation, both temperature and pressure have to be increased. After approximately six hours after having reached the correct regeneration conditions, the 10 inches pipe at the bottom to one of the two reactor experienced a guillotine break, and hot gas was released from both ends. The gas released consisted of 81% of hydrogen, 9.5% of methane and some light hydrocarbons. It rapidly ignited (0.7 sec), causing an explosion.

The event occurred in a silicon hydride (SiH) emulsion production process inside an enclosed production building. The process generated a flammable gas cloud gas ignited, which later ignited causing an explosion and fire.The explosion caused four fatalities and one injured worker, heavily damaged the production building and its force was felt up to 20 miles away. According to the CSB preliminary report, various investigations are still ongoing to understand in details the sequence of events of this accident.

A petroleum refinery experienced a catastrophic rupture of a heat exchanger in the catalytic reformer / naphtha hydrotreater unit (the NHT unit). The heat exchanger, catastrophically ruptured because of High Temperature Hydrogen Attack.Highly flammable hydrogen and naphtha at more than 500 degrees Fahrenheit (260C) were released from the ruptured heat exchanger and ignited, causing an explosion and an intense fire that burned for more than three hours.

The accident occurred during the first phase of the batch synthesis of tricarbonyl compound (methylcyclopentadienyl) manganese (TMCM), while the reaction mixture in the reactor consisted of more than 0.5 t of sodium and organic compounds. Reaction runaway with hydrogen production caused a large increase in pressure and temperature leading to a rupture of the reactor (above 100 bar). The ignition of the released flammable cloud led to the formation of a fireball and generated a large heat flux.

The explosion occurred when a spark from welding equipment ignited flammable vapours from a 415,000-gallon (ca. 1.5 million of litres) sulfuric acid storage tank at the refinery.The investigation showed that the explosion was caused by the ignition of hydrogen leaking from the tank as result from years of neglect. Hydrogen is produced when sulfuric acid comes into contact with the steel tanks.One worker was killed and eight other workers were injured.

An explosion at a linear alkylbenzene (LAB) plant caused substantial damage to the facility and injured five workers. Production remains down, and the company has sent a letter to customers declaring force majeure.Four of the five injured workers were treated and subsequently released from local hospitals. A fifth worker, whose back was broken in a 30-foot fall, is in a body cast but is expected to recover fully. The plant was down for routine maintenance when an explosion occurred around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 13 1998.

Workers were performing demolition on a disused furnace. While removing a 10 inch valve from a pipe used to supply coke gas fuel to the furnace, flammable liquid was unexpectedly released and ignited. The flammable material consisted of methane, hydrogen, carbon monoxide and solid coke. The workers were not aware that there might be flammable material still in the pipe. The blast occurred when gas from the line came into contact with heaters which have open flames to keep nearby equipment from freezing. The accident resulted in the death of two workers and 5 others were injured.

The release and fire occurred during what appeared to be a normal operation in a reactor section of a Residue Hydrotreater Unit, when an eight-inch pipe connected to a heat exchanger failed at the flange. Recycled gas, primarily hydrogen, was suddenly released when the pipe broke away. The hydrogen, under high pressure and temperature, was ignited, sending a large jet fire shooting an estimated 75 feet westward from the flange. Damage was localized along that fire path.