Event
- Event ID
- 570
- Quality
- Description
The fire was due to the rupture of a tube in a hydrogen heater (heat exchanger).
- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- fire
- Macro-region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Date
- Component involved
- heat exchanger (pipe)
- Failure mode
- rupture & ignition
- Initiating cause
- material degradation (generic)
- Root causes
- Unknown
- Date entry in HIAD
- 28/01/2026
Facility
- Application
- Petrochemical industry
- Sub-application
- Unspecified refinery process
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- Location type
- Confined
- Location
- unknown
- Operational condition
- UNKNOWN
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Currency
- US$
- Property loss (onsite)
- 500.000
Lesson Learnt
- Lesson Learnt
Rupture of hydrogen or process gases tubes in pre-heaters /heat-exchangers / fired heaters is a recurrent event up to recent times. This is not surprising, considering the high temperatures and pressures involved. The most common causes are materials degradations due to manufacturing defects and operative stresses. Ruptures tend to happen during operative transients, which may cause over-heating due to reduction of flows. When the releases occur also in presence of naked flames, as in fired heaters, which use conventional fuels burners, ignition and explosion in the confined of the heater box is ensured. Nevertheless, due to sturdy heater constructions, it rarely happens that damage extends to the outside environment.
In-depth data
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
References
- Sources categories
- Zalosh
- Reference & weblink
Table II - Industrial Incidetns 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)
