Hydrogen release from a pipe in a chemical plant due to external event

During a leak test performed on a new retention basin of a chemical plant, one of the walls of the structure collapsed on a rack of 4 pipes located nearby and caused the rupture of the supports and deformation of the pipes.
1,500 m3 of water was released into the environment. A small leak of hydrogen was detected.
Site crews, assisted by firefighters on the platform, isolated and decompressed the pipes. The isolation of the hydrogen pipeline resulted in the shutdowns of 2 units in nearby refineries.

The 1,600 m3 concrete retention basin, the construction of which had just been completed, was to be commissioned in May 2009. According to the initial investigations, the quality of the anchorages between the tie rods responsible for ensuring rigidity of the structure and the walls of the basin would be the cause of the accident.

INITIATING cause is the collapse of the wall of a retention basin, which had just been completed,
Root cause is the bad design of the basin, or the choice of the bad quality of the materials.

hydrogen pipeline

The incident occurred when testing the newly built 1,600 m3 concrete retention basin.

The isolation of the hydrogen pipeline resulted in the shutdowns of 2 units in nearby refineries.

The operator published a press release.

14:00 Basin wall collapses; rupture of the supports and deformation of the pipes; 1,500 m3 of water released.
14:15 The emergency plan is initiated pm and the employees confined.
A small leak of hydrogen was observed. Site crews, assisted by firefighters on the platform, isolated and decompressed the pipes.
15:30 The leak under control, the containment measures terminated
16:30 Emergency plan terminated.
The isolation of the hydrogen pipeline resulted in the shutdowns of 2 units in nearby refineries.