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Clean Hydrogen Partnership

Fire on a CGH2 tube trailer

Event

Event ID
261
Quality
Description

While driving on a highway, the driver of a CGH2 tube trailer was notified by another driver of the smoke coming from his trailer. The CGH2 tube trailer parked in a place considered safe, inspected the trailer and found the sides hot. After having called the emergency services, he unhooked the tractor from the trailer and moved the tractor away from the trailer. At this time, the first police officer arrived. The hazmat contractor in charge of the clean up arrived more than 3 hours later. Throughout all this time, it is assumed that the fire continued, but the report mentions only the contamination of the ground due to the exposure of the steel containment floor of the trailer to the fire. The trailer was disposed, probably because very damaged. No cause reported.

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
valve (generic)
Failure mode
leak & ignition
Initiating cause
unknown
Root causes
Unknown
Date entry in HIAD
25/10/2024

Facility

Application
Hydrogen transport and distribution
Sub-application
CGH2 tube trailer
Hydrogen supply chain stage
All components affected

unknown

Process temperature range [C]
ambient temperature (-50°C to +50°C)
Process pressure range [MPa]
medium to high pressure (10 to 50 MPa)
Location type
Open
Location
highway or similar
Operational condition
Description of the facility/unit/process/substances

The nominal pressure is not povided. Nevertheless, from the website of the trailer manufacturer, it can be assumed that the trailer was carrying type I steel tubes wtih a nominal pressure of 180 bar

Emergency & Consequences

Number of fatalities
0
Number of injured persons
0
Currency
US$
Property loss (onsite)
714.000

In-depth data

Release type
gas
Involved substances (% vol)
H2 100%
Release temperature [°C]
25
Release pressure [MPa]
18
Probable IGNITION SOURCE

References

Sources categories
PHMSA
Reference & weblink

Incident I-1997110950 of the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration PHMSA (multiple reports because of more gases, but no pdf report):
https://portal.phmsa.dot.gov/analytics/saw.dll?Portalpages&PortalPath=%…
(accessed September 2024)