Event
- Event ID
- 849
- Quality
- Description
In the collective treatment plant of a chemical platform, the truck tank of 25 m³ containing hydrochloric acid (HCl) rose in pressure, causing a leakage of acid solution and a gas release from the upper part of the tank. The emergency plan of the site was triggered. The rescue confined 5 employees and switched off the electrical power on the site. The police interrupted the traffic. Reliefs opened the manhole of the tank to reduce the internal pressure. At 6pm, they measure 124, 923 and 230 ppm of HCl around the 3 manholes and a hydrogen (H2) level below the LEL. Staff containment was lifted. A specialized company emptied the tank until 9:30pm.
- Event Initiating system
- Classification of the physical effects
- Unignited Hydrogen Release
- Nature of the consequences
- release, no ignition
- Macro-region
- Europe
- Country
- France
- Date
- Component involved
- chemical storage tank
- Failure mode
- rupture
- Initiating cause
- accidental hydrogen formation
- Root CAUSE analysis
According to the post-incident inspection, the incident was due to an incompatibility between HCl and the material constituting the tank (INOX), the acid attack leading to the formation of H2.
- Root causes
- Date entry in HIAD
- 01/01/2020
Facility
- Application
- Chemical industry
- Sub-application
- chemicals storage and transport
- Hydrogen supply chain stage
- All components affected
chemicals storage tank
- Process temperature range [C]
- ambient temperature (-50°C to +50°C)
- Process pressure range [MPa]
- ambient pressure (around 0.1 MPa)
- Location type
- Open
- Location
- industrial area
- Operational condition
Emergency & Consequences
- Number of fatalities
- 0
- Number of injured persons
- 0
- Emergency action
The emergency plan of the site was triggered. The rescue confined 5 employees and switched off the electrical power on the site. The police interrupted the traffic. Reliefs opened the manhole of the tank to reduce the internal pressure. At 6pm, they measure 124, 923 and 230 ppm of HCl around the 3 manholes and a hydrogen (H2) level below the LEL. Staff containment was lifted. A specialized company was emptying the tank until 9:30pm.
In-depth data
- Release type
- gas mixture
- Involved substances (% vol)
- H2,HCl
- Probable IGNITION SOURCE
References
- Sources categories
- ARIA
- Reference & weblink
ARIA data base event no. 36762
