Event
- Event ID
- 474
- Quality
- Description
An excess of hydrogen in the reactor vessel resulted in a runaway reaction, causing the vessel to rupture due to overheating. The unbalanced reaction was caused by a reduction of flow of impure ethylene. When the vessel ruptured, air accessed the vessel and ignited spontaneously the process gas.
- 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
- reactor / oven / furnace / test chamber
- Failure mode
- rupture
- Initiating cause
- run-away reaction
- Root CAUSE analysis
The INITIATING CAUSE was an excess of hydrogen which sped up the reaction rate, causing ethylene to convert into ethane much faster, with heat generation rate exceeding the cooling capacity of the installation.
The ROOT CAUSE is unknown.
- Root causes
- Date entry in HIAD
- 28/01/2026
Facility
- Application
- Chemical industry
- Sub-application
- Plastics production process
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
chemical reactor
- Process temperature range [C]
- High temperature (100°C to 500°C)
- Process pressure range [MPa]
- medium pressure (2 to 10 MPa)
- Location type
- Confined
- Location
- unknown
- Operational condition
- Description of the facility/unit/process/substances
Hydrogenation of ethylene (C2H4 IUPAC name: ethene) add 2 hydrogen atoms to the moleule, producing ethane (C2H6). Pd or Ni catalysts may be used.
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Currency
- US$
- Property loss (onsite)
- 5.000
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas mixture
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2,C2H4
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
- Explosion type
References
- Sources categories
- Zalosh
- Reference & weblink
Table II - Industrial Incidents 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)
