Event
- Event ID
- 744
- Quality
- Description
Employee #1, a maintenance worker, was killed by a hydrogen blast while working inside a batch hydrogenation unit.
- 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
- unknown
- Failure mode
- unknown
- Initiating cause
- unknown
- Root causes
- Unknown
- Date entry in HIAD
- 01/01/2020
Facility
- Application
- Chemical industry
- Sub-application
- hydrogen production unit
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
hydrogenator
- Process temperature range [C]
- ambient temperature (-50°C to +50°C)
- Location type
- Unknown
- Location
- industrial area
- Operational condition
- Pre-event occurrences
Maintenance was ongoing inside a hydrogenation unit.
- Description of the facility/unit/process/substances
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESS
From Wikipedia: "Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between molecular hydrogen and another compound or element, usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogenation
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 1
- Number of injured persons
- 0
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Release temperature [°C]
- 25
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
References
- Sources categories
- OHSA
- Reference & weblink
OSHA Accident Summary Nr: 763086 - Employee Killed By Explosion Inside Batch Hydrogenator
https://www.osha.gov/ords/imis/accidentsearch.accident_detail?id=763086
(accessed May 2023)
