The event started when a gasket in a water pump was blown out. The water pump was situated inside a 100 m long, 10 m wide, and 7 m high building. The pump was feeding water to a vessel containing hydrogen gas at pressure of 30 bars. The accident occurred when operators tried to change over from pump B to pump A. They did not realise that the inlet valve on the low-pressure side of pump A was closed. Following a series of attempt to solve the situation, a valve remained partially open and the gasket failed.

Piping breakage at atomic power plant- Steam piping (inside diameter: 15 cm; thickness: 1.1 cm) of a heat exchanger for removing residual heat from a reactor was broken during the test of a high pressure core injection system for cooling water provided for an emergency core cooling system at a boiling-water light water reactor with an output of 0.54 million kW, thus resulting in leakage of radioactivity-containing gases. The part of the piping that was located on the 2nd floor of the building as broken but there were no workers there.

A fire in an oil refineryThe fire broke out together with an explosion noise from the heavy oil direct desulfurization system of the height of about 20 m. The fire burned a part of the system installed in the site in a range of the radius of about 30 m, and was extinguished after about 10 hours. In the oil refinery, the heavy oil supply was stopped, waiting for the complete burning-off of the hydrogen and the heavy oil of about 1,000 kl left in the system. The fire station dispatched 27 fire engines for chemical fire, and extinguished the fire by pouring nitrogen in the piping system.

Localized corrosion of a FCCU (Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit) feed Hydrotreater recycle hydrogen line by-pass around a hydrogen pre-heat exchanger led to an explosion and fire.The failed part of the line had been identified by inspection as a dead leg. After investigation it was found that the mechanism of corrosion was ammonium chloride under deposit corrosion. The source of chloride has not been traced, but hydrogen from the catalytic reformer was strongly suspected. Inadequate inspection of the dead leg was identified as the cause of this incident.

A release of contents of a pressure vessel occurred when a longitudinal weld tore open. The vessel had been shut down and had just been put into use again when the incident occurred.The gas mixture contained hydrocarbons with 30% hydrogen. It has reached its working pressure of 31 bar, but was only at -26 degrees C, instead of the working temperature of -73 degrees C, no liquid was present.An investigation found a crack, 1.6 metres long, had formed near the upper end of the weld.

A section of effluent piping ruptured on the Hydrocracker Reactor of a Refinery. A mixture of light gases (methane, butane), light and heavy gasoline, gas oil and hydrogen was released from the pipe and instantly ignited upon contact with air, causing an explosion and fire. An operator who was checking a field temperature panel at the base of the reactor was killed; 46 employees or contractors were injured, 13 hospitalised.The effluent pipe ruptured because of excessively high temperature (over 760C) stemming from catalyst bed.

A fatality occurred after a flexible hose used to transfer hydrogen to the catalytic reformer was over-pressurised and caught fire.On June 9, 1997, No. 1 and No. 2 hydrogen modules were connected to the recycle gas compressor using the correct outlet points after the pressure regulators. No.1 module was emptied and replaced by No.3 module. Hydrogen from No.2 module was still connected to the injection without the PSV and 3 cylinders had emptied into the unit.

A hydrogen-cooled electricity generator exploded inside a coal-fired power plant killing two workers and injuring fifty others. An investigation into the incident found that a hydrogen gas leak may have caused the explosion, which occurred as the generator was being tested following routine maintenance.A press release of the company (see references) immediately after the accident stated that their "safety procedures may not have been followed"

Three workers were asphyxiated when argon and hydrogen gas leaked from pipes they were installing on an aromatics plant being built on a cracking complex.

An explosion occurred on a tank truck whilst unloading hydrogen into a storage tank. The explosion occurred near the discharge valve of the truck injuring two people and starting a fire at the point where the hydrogen was leaking from the damaged valve.The fire was too big for the fire brigade to keep it under control. The fire could be extinguish only by approaching the site and manually closing another valve. Both the stationary tank and the tank on the truck were not affected by the fire.