Event
- Event ID
- 313
- Quality
- Description
The pressurisation line on the nozzle skirt of a liquid hydrogen tank ruptured at welded section. Two tests were underway at the same time; one was a pressure test up to 1850 psi (ca. 128 bar) in the gaseous hydrogen circuit and the other was an equipment installation and leak check. The LH2 pressurization line was capped.
- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Unignited Hydrogen Release
- Nature of the consequences
- leak no ignition
- Macro-region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Date
- -
- Component involved
- piping (weld)
- Failure mode
- leak, no ignition
- Initiating cause
- over-pressurisation
- Root CAUSE analysis
The INITIATING CAUSE was the rupture of a pressurised line at a weld.
The line ruptured due to high pressure caused by a leakage through a control valve between the gaseous and the liquid systems. The pressure in the pipe reached 1300 to 1400 psi (90 to 97 bar) while its burst pressure was 1250 psi (ca. 86 bar).The ROOT CAUSE of the valve malfunctioning is unknown.
- Root causes
- Unknown
- Date entry in HIAD
- 30/10/2025
Facility
- Application
- Non-road vehicles
- Sub-application
- Aerospace
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
valve, piping
- Process temperature range [C]
- cryogenic temperature (below -50°C)
- Location type
- Unknown
- Location
- industrial area
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
References
- Sources categories
- ORDIN
- Reference & weblink
Mishap no 24 in
P. L. Ordin, Review of hydrogen accidents and incidents in NASA operations, 1974, NASA TM X-71565
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19740020344Hankinson and Lowesmith, Qualitative Risk Assessment of Hydrogen Liquefaction, Storage and Transportation, FCH JU project IDEALHY, Deliverable 3.10 (2013)
confidential
(accessed October 2025)Lowesmith et al., Safety issues of the liquefaction, storage and transportation of liquid hydrogen: An analysis of incidents and HAZIDS, Int. J. Hydrogen energy (2014) https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2014.08.002
