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Clean Hydrogen Partnership

Explosion in a cadmium sulphate production unit

Event

Event ID
489
Quality
Description

Hydrogen as product of the reaction process ignited and exploded.

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
internal explosion
Initiating cause
unknown
Root causes
Date entry in HIAD
28/01/2026

Facility

Application
Electrical, electronics and micro-electronics industry
Sub-application
electronic circuit
Hydrogen supply chain stage
All components affected

chemical reactor

Process temperature range [C]
Above ambient temperature (50°C to 100°C)
Process pressure range [MPa]
ambient pressure (around 0.1 MPa)
Location type
Confined
Location
unknown
Operational condition
Description of the facility/unit/process/substances

Cadmium sulphate hydrate can be prepared by the reaction of cadmium metal or its oxide or hydroxide with dilute sulfuric acid. The process used appears starting from the oxide form. CdO + H2SO4 → CdSO4 + H2O Cd + H2SO4 → CdSO4 + H2

Emergency & Consequences

Number of fatalities
0
Number of injured persons
0
Currency
US$
Property loss (onsite)
5.000

In-depth data

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)