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Clean Hydrogen Partnership

Hydrogen and gasoline fire on an heat exchanger in a refinery

Event

Event ID
848
Quality
Description

A fire, fuelled by a mixture of gasoline and hydrogen, occurred on a heat exchanger located at 15 m height in a gasoline processing unit of a refinery.
The operator triggered the emergency plan. Site rescue teams controlled the fire during the depressurisation phase of the unit. After the fire was extinguished, the unit was put under nitrogen before being inspected to assess the damage.
The fire did not have a significant impact on the operation of the site.

Event Initiating system
Classification of the physical effects
Hydrogen Release and Ignition
Nature of the consequences
fire
Macro-region
Europe
Country
France
Date
Component involved
heat exchanger (generic)
Failure mode
rupture & ignition
Initiating cause
unknown
Root causes
Unknown
Date entry in HIAD
01/01/2020

Facility

Application
Petrochemical industry
Sub-application
Unspecified refinery process
Hydrogen supply chain stage
All components affected

heat exchanger, gasoline processing unit, refinery

Location type
Open
Location
industrial area
Operational condition

Emergency & Consequences

Number of fatalities
0
Number of injured persons
0
Post-event summary

The fire did not have a significant impact on the operation of the site.

Emergency action

22:30 Start of the fire and start of the emergency plan.
Site rescue teams controls the fire during the decompression phase of the unit
When the fire stops, the system is purged with nitrogen before inspection
02:00 The emergency plan is terminated. The operator informed the emergency services and the inspection of the classified installations.

In-depth data

Release type
gas mixture
Involved substances (% vol)
H2,
gasoline
Probable IGNITION SOURCE

References

Sources categories
ARIA
Reference & weblink

ARIA data ase event no. 38827
https://www.aria.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/accident/38827_en/?lang=…
(Accessed December 2023)