Event
- Event ID
- 394
- Quality
- Description
Following loading of propellant run tanks, the insulation jacket (filled with perlite) on the conmon vent and pressurisation line for the LH2 storage tank burst.
- 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 insulation shell
- Failure mode
- internal explosion
- Initiating cause
- over-pressurisation
- Root CAUSE analysis
The pressure in the jacket increased due to earlier entrance of air due to cryo-pumping, its liquefaction and then expanding liquid. There was a burst disk installed on the jacket, but it failed to relieve due to ice formation. The ROOT CAUSE could be attributed to shortcoming of the design and of regular inspection and maintenance.
- Root causes
- Date entry in HIAD
- 01/11/2025
Facility
- Application
- Non-road vehicles
- Sub-application
- Aerospace
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
insulation jacket, vent and presurisation line
- Process temperature range [C]
- cryogenic temperature (below -50°C)
- Location type
- Open
- Location
- countryside or desert
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Emergency action
none
Lesson Learnt
- Lesson Learnt
This is a rare case of failure to open of a burst disk installed on an insulation jacket. The mode of failure, nevertheless, is common to other events where the burst disk or other pressure relief devices was hindered to activate due to formation of ice.
In-depth data
- Release type
- no release
- Released amount (kg)
- 0
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
- Explosion type
References
- Sources categories
- ORDIN
- Reference & weblink
Mishap no 56 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
