Event
- Event ID
- 1097
- Quality
- Description
The incident occurred "in the near of a hydrogen compressor" and consisted first in an explosion, followed by a fire. Cause not disclosed.
Emergency control and mitigation actions implemented caused the shutting down of five affected units and consequently including the Sulphur
Recovery Unit due to a lack of feed.
11 slightly injured, the blast caused windows rattling 30 km away. All personnel were evacuated from the site and the fire was extinguished approximately 1 hour later. No environmental impacts.- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Hydrogen Release and Ignition
- Nature of the consequences
- Macro-region
- Africa
- Country
- South Africa
- Date
- Component involved
- compressor / booster / pump
- Failure mode
- rupture & ignition
- Initiating cause
- unknown
- Root causes
- Unknown
- Date entry in HIAD
- 01/07/2024
Facility
- Application
- Petrochemical industry
- Sub-application
- Hydrocracking process
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
unknown
- Process temperature range [C]
- ambient temperature (-50°C to +50°C)
- Process pressure range [MPa]
- medium pressure (2 to 10 MPa)
- Location type
- Unknown
- Location
- industrial area
- Operational condition
- UNKNOWN
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 11
- Post-event summary
Emergency control and mitigation actions caused the shutting down of five affected units and the reduction of the daily refinery capacity
- Emergency action
All personnel were evacuated from the site and the fire was extinguished approximately 1 hour later. No environmental impacts (said the company).
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Release temperature [°C]
- 25
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
- Explosion type
References
- Sources categories
- News
- Reference & weblink
The Chemistry Engineer news of22 May, 2017
https://www.thechemicalengineer.com/news/blast-at-sasol-total-natref-re…
(accessed December 2023)Reuters news of May 22, 2017:
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN18I0RL/
(Accessed December 2023)Event description in the French database ARIA
https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/accident/49717/
(accessed September 2023)
