Event
- Event ID
- 386
- Quality
- Description
During initial testing at a liquid hydrogen bubble chamber facility, an explosion occurred shortly after opening a high pressure hydroger line. The explosion was assumed to have taken place in the liquefier. Piping, transfer lines and dewar were ruptured. Hydrogen escaped and burned in a large cloud.
- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- Macro-region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Date
- -
- Component involved
- cryogenic pipe
- Failure mode
- internal explosion
- Initiating cause
- wrong operation
- Root CAUSE analysis
The liquid hydrogen was considered to contain about 2% contaminants, mostly oxygen. The single deoxidation unit was too small. The ignition source was attributed to an electric charge accumulated on solid oxygen as an insulator. The flow of high velocity gas produced the electric charge. With the layer of solid oxygen as insulator having an electric charge, a voltage across the insulator would be sufficient to break it down and cause a spark. The spark was most likely the ignition source.
- Root causes
- Date entry in HIAD
- 01/11/2025
Facility
- Application
- Non-road vehicles
- Sub-application
- Aerospace
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
piping, dewar
- Process temperature range [C]
- cryogenic temperature (below -50°C)
- Location type
- Unknown
- Location
- unknown
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas-liquid mixture
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
- Explosion type
References
- Sources categories
- ORDIN
- Reference & weblink
Mishap no 44 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)The IDEAHY report was also summarised in
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
