Event
- Event ID
- 474
- Quality
- Description
An excess of hydrogen in the reactor vessel resulted in a runaway reaction, causing the vessel to rupture due to overheating. The unbalanced reaction was caused by a reduction of flow of impure ethylene. When the vessel ruptured, air accessed the vessel and ignited spontaneously the process gas.
- 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
- rupture & ignition
- Initiating cause
- run-away reaction
- Root causes
- Unknown
- Date entry in HIAD
- 28/01/2026
Facility
- Application
- Chemical industry
- Sub-application
- Ethylene, polyethylene, olefins production processes
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
reactor vessel
- Location type
- Confined
- Location
- unknown
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Currency
- US$
- Property loss (onsite)
- 5.000
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas mixture
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2,
C2H4 - 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)
