Hydrogen Explosion in Chlorine Collection System Due to Strainer Failure
Failure of a strainer allowed sand from brine filters to get into mercury cells in a chlorine plant. It appears that the sand obstructed flow and caused excessive hydrogen generation. An explosion occurred in the chlorine collection system.
Event Date
October 14, 1968
Record Quality Indicator
Event Initiating System
Classification of the Physical Effects
Nature of the Consequences
Cause Comments
Flow restriction and mechanical equipment failure
Facility Information
Application Type
Application
Specific Application Supply Chain Stage
Components Involved
filter
Location Type
Location description
Industrial Area
Pre-event Summary
Chlorine plan
Consequences
Number of Injured Persons
1
Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned
To monitor the pressure at the filter
Event Nature
Emergency Action
Unknown
Detonation
No
Deflagration
No
High Pressure Explosion
No
High Voltage Explosion
No
Source Category
References
References
Event description extracted from the UK database ICHEME in PDF
ICHEME database is no longer available for purchase, but data can be download as PDF for free.
https://www.icheme.org/knowledge/safety-centre/resources/accident-data/
(accessed October 2020)
The primary source was in the journal Loss of Prevention (vol. 3) which his not available anymore