Event
- Event ID
- 118
- Quality
- Description
The vacuum in the thermal insulation shell of a liquid hydrogen tanker was lost, resulting in a hydrogen release, both manually and through opening of the burst disc.
- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Unignited Hydrogen Release
- Nature of the consequences
- release, no ignition
- Macro-region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Date
- Component involved
- PRD (burst disc)
- Failure mode
- correct activation
- Initiating cause
- over-pressurisation (thermal insulation degradation)
- Root CAUSE analysis
The INITIATING CAUSE was the deterioration of the thermal insulation capacity of the tank vacuum shell, for unreported reasons.
The manual and automatic safety mitigating measures worked as designed.
- Root causes
- Date entry in HIAD
- 20/01/2025
Facility
- Application
- Hydrogen transport and distribution
- Sub-application
- H2 delivery to customers
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
LH2 road tanker
- Process temperature range [C]
- cryogenic temperature (below -50°C)
- Process pressure range [MPa]
- low to medium pressure (below 2 MPa)
- Location type
- Open
- Location
- highway or similar
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Currency
- US$
- Property loss (onsite)
- 2.500
- Emergency action
manual venting
Lesson Learnt
- Lesson Learnt
Zalosh et al (see references), concluded their analysis of hydrogen transportation accidents till 1978 with the following conclusions: "Finally, an encouraging aspect of the transportation incident compilation is that 71% of the hydrogen releases did not lead to an ignition. ... The relatively few ignitions may be due to either to lack of ignition sources or to the rapid dispersal of hydrogen into the atmosphere. In any event, the accident data provide further incentive t o transport , transfer and store hydrogen outdoors away from occupied areas."
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
References
- Sources categories
- Zalosh
- Reference & weblink
Extract from Table III of Appendix A of Zalosh and Short COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF HYDROGEN FIRE AND EXPLOSION INCIDENTS Quarterly Report No. 2 for Period December 1, 1977 - February 28, 1978 https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6566131 (accessed September 2020)
Event incident I-1973060474 of the PHMSA database (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 1996), https://portal.phmsa.dot.gov/analytics/saw.dll?Portalpages (accessed September 2024)
