Event
- Event ID
- 1113
- Quality
- Description
An LH2 trailer-tractor was returning to the base after a hydrogen delivery at a customer. The trailer was almost empty. Nevertheless, the drivers noticed an increase in the trailer internal pressure. They notified the company support team and pulled into a truck parking place, to avoid the risk of having the safety vent open while traveling. They then performed a controlled, manual venting of the trailer, going from 58 psig (4.0 barg) to 34 psig (2.3 barg). They then returned to the base without further incident.
- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Unignited Hydrogen Release
- Nature of the consequences
- leak no ignition
- Macro-region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Date
- Component involved
- LH2 tank (road tanker)
- Failure mode
- rupture, no ignition
- Initiating cause
- over-pressurisation (wrong operation)
- Root CAUSE analysis
The INITIAL CAUSE was over-pressurisation of the LH2 tank, which caused an intervention of the drivers to reduce pressure.
BY using as proxy several similar events, ROOT CAUSE could be tentatively attributed to the failure to 'stabilise' the pressure of the tanker after delivery and before leaving customer's site. This is a procedure aiming at avoiding over-pressurisation by cold gaseous hydrogen during the return travel.- Root causes
- Date entry in HIAD
- 09/09/2024
Facility
- Application
- Hydrogen transport and distribution
- Sub-application
- LH2 tanker
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
vacuum thermal insulation
- Process temperature range [C]
- cryogenic temperature (below -50°C)
- Process pressure range [MPa]
- low to medium pressure (below 2 MPa)
- Location type
- Open
- Location
- highway or similar
- Operational condition
- Pre-event occurrences
The trailer was almost empty, after delivery.
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Currency
- US$
- Property loss (onsite)
- 3.200
- Post-event summary
270 kg hydrogen were released.
- Emergency action
The emergency was quickly ended by the intervention of the drivers, who performed a manual pressure release operation.
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2 100%
- Released amount (kg)
- 268.16805450416
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
References
- Sources categories
- PHMSA
- Reference & weblink
Incident I-2000080190 of the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration PHMSA:
https://portal.phmsa.dot.gov/analytics/saw.dll?Portalpages&PortalPath=%…
(accessed September 2024)
