The malfunctioning of the non-return valve of the hydrogen compressor caused the pressure between the hydrogen bottle and the compressor to rise up to the maximum allowed pressure of 275 barg. As a consequence, as foreseen by the safety system, the rupture disk of the safety valve broke and the hydrogen content of the gas bottle and the pipe section involved was released on top of the building. The flame was seen for a very short period by a guard, and could have been caused by the following series of events:

Expansion of hydrogen at the end of the exhaust pipe.
Consequent mixing of hydrogen and air up to a near-stoichiometric mixture and increase of gas temperature.
Mixture ignition due to sparks from static electricity generated by gas molecule friction against view more

Near the end of the process of filling a gaseous hydrogen tube trailer at a liquid hydrogen transfilling station, a safety pressure-relief device (PRD) rupture disc on one of the tube trailer’s ten tubes burst and vented hydrogen gas. The PRD vent tube directed gas to the top of the trailer where the hydrogen vented and ignited, blowing a flame straight up in the air. The operator filling the tube trailer heard a loud explosion from the sudden release of hydrogen gas and saw flames immediately. The operator closed the main fill valve on the tube trailer, stopping the hydrogen fill; however, the ten cylinders on the tube trailer were almost full (2500 psig/173 bar). The tube trailer involved in this incident was one of two tube trailers being filled simultaneously and was second in a view more

A closed 20-mL glass scintillation vial containing approximately 5 grams of an aluminum hydride compound ruptured and shattered, likely due to pressure buildup after 6 weeks of storage. The glass vial with aluminum hydride compound was stored inside a closed plastic box. The plastic box with vial was stored within an air-free glove box at room temperature. When the glass vial ruptured, the vial was contained within the plastic box; however, the plastic box door was forced slightly ajar. The ruptured containers and internal materials were fully contained within the glove box. No damage was observed to the glove box and no one was injured. The attached photograph shows the remains of the vial within the plastic box.

A vehicle fill was initiated by the operator. During the hose pressurization step, a leak was observed at the breakaway fitting. The operator pressed the emergency stop to terminate the fill.

A valve packing started to leak during cold ambient temperatures. A technician was dispatched. He first reduced the pressure to minimize the release and then re-tightened the packing to stop the leak.

A vehicle fill depleted the high-pressure hydrogen inventory. The compressor turned on to refill the storage by compressing 60 psig gas from a liquid hydrogen tank up to the 5500 psig storage pressure. After running about 2 hours, a crankshaft bearing started to fail. This allowed greater movement of the shaft, which led to a shaft seal leaking hydrogen. The compressor shut down on low suction pressure and then the system was shut down using the e-stop by the emergency responders.

During a 70-MPa fueling, the fueling hose breakaway separated. The separation occurred without any extraneous forces other than the pressure of the gas internal to the fueling hose. Upon investigation, it was determined the pull force set point was incorrectly adjusted. No further issues or actions.

A metal hydride storage system was refilled using compressed hydrogen in a closed lab environment. The tank system is an in-house development and is optimized for high hydrogen storage density and use with an air-cooled fuel cell. The system is equipped with a pressure relief valve that opens gradually at 35 bar to protect the tank from overpressure conditions. The tank itself is designed to adsorb 400 g of hydrogen at a pressure less than 15 bar.

For refueling, the secondary pressure on the compressed hydrogen supply container was set to 20 bar and the adsorption of the hydride was started without hydrogen flow limitation. Due to the exothermic nature of the hydride upon recharge, as expected a sharp increase in tank temperature was measured. The tank was uncooled because the view more

A fueler drove away without disconnecting the fueling hose from the vehicle. The breakaway did not open and the receptacle fitting sheared off the vehicle. Subsequent testing of the breakaway showed that the breakaway operated at 210 lbs, which was above the design value of 133 lbs. The hydrogen contained in the hose between the dispenser shutoff valve and the vehicle check valve was released.

Forty-six hydrogen cylinders were accidentally charged with air instead of additional hydrogen during recharging operations at a synthetic liquid fuels laboratory. Cylinders were manifolded in batches of 10 or 12 to the utility compressor outside the laboratory. In normal operations, partly used cylinders containing hydrogen at a pressure of 800-900 psi were recharged to a pressure of 2000-2100 psi. Since the contaminated cylinders contained a highly explosive mixture of about 40% hydrogen and 60% air, it was decided to release the compressed gas to the atmosphere outside the building after grounding the cylinders. Two of the cylinders were successfully discharged, but an explosion occurred while the third cylinder was being discharged. Two chemical engineers were killed by the blast, view more