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Clean Hydrogen Partnership

Fire on a hydrogen pump

Event

Event ID
668
Quality
Description

The incident occurred at a plant producing sodium aluminium hydride. A hydrogen leak at pump resulted in a fire and an explosion.

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
compressor / booster / pump
Failure mode
leak
Initiating cause
unknown
Root causes
Date entry in HIAD
28/01/2026

Facility

Application
Chemical industry
Sub-application
metal hydride production
Hydrogen supply chain stage
All components affected

H2 compressor

Process temperature range [C]
unknown
Process pressure range [MPa]
unknown
Location type
Confined
Location
unknown
Operational condition
Description of the facility/unit/process/substances

” Sodium aluminium hydride or sodium alanate (NaAlH4) is an inorganic compound used as a reagent for the chemical synthesis of organic compounds. It is prepared from the elements under high pressures of H2 at 200 °C using a catalyst:

Na + Al + 2 H2 → NaAlH4 ”

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_aluminium_hydride]

Emergency & Consequences

Number of fatalities
0
Number of injured persons
0
Currency
US$
Property loss (onsite)
150.000

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)

Extract from 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)