September 2004

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VANCOUVER, B.C. - A malfunctioning automatic shut off valve and leak on a Praxair 18-wheeler liquid hydrogen tanker truck appears to be the most likely cause of a hydrogen explosion and fire that occurred in early August at a Ballard Power Systems facility in Burnaby.

The fire burned from about 9:30 p.m Friday Aug. 6 to about 5 a.m. the next morning when a Praxair technician shut off the hydrogen gas stream by manually closing a valve on the truck, Grant Horner, Praxair’s environmental safety manager at the company’s Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, told H&FCL. The mishap occurred before the truck was hooked up to Ballard’s liquid hydrogen tank.

There was no damage to the Ballard facility, Ballard treasurer Michael Rosenberg told H&FCL. The truck itself sustained about $1,000 worth of damage, mostly scorched paint and damaged wiring, according to Praxair’s Horner. It was driven away by the same driver under its own power, with part of the liquid hydrogen load still in the tank, to a Praxair facility in Delta, B.C. for further investigation.

Rosenberg said the fire was visible as a small bluish flame - about 1 foot in diameter and about 3 feet high, according to Horner. The Burnaby fire department evacuated the area around the facility as a precaution, and it sprayed the tank with water to keep it cool, “pretty much a standard procedure with tank fires,” according to Rosenberg. “It was really a Praxair accident on Ballard facilities, and Transport Canada and (Canada’s) Workmen’s Compensation Board is investigating the accident,.” he said.

Accident Findings in a Couple of Weeks

Horner added investigators who are expected to present their findings in a couple of weeks, are still looking into the possibility whether the driver followed transport procedures exactly, but at this point it appears that the cause had to do with the equipment.

The driver suffered slight burns to his hands and face, “more like a light sunburn from the radiated heat or ultraviolet light from the ignition,” surmised Rosenberg.

The accident occurred when the truck, which carried 2,000 kg of liquid hydrogen, was making its second delivery stop at 4343 North Fraser Way. Earlier, it had dropped off most of its cargo at Ballard’s Glen Lyon facility: Rosenberg believes the tank still held about 700 kg when the accident happened.

Apparently very little hydrogen was consumed in the flame: Horner said the level on the truck’s liquid level gauge read “pretty much the same” before and after the mishap. It’s possible that the only hydrogen that burned was hydrogen that had been left in the piping and that may have boiled off at a very low rate.

The bottom line, according to Rosenberg, is that the incident, with no damage to site facilities and slight damage to the truck, really “highlighted how safe hydrogen is,” an assessment shared by Horner. In its statement, Ballard said that had the leakage and fire involved fuels such as gasoline or propane, “the situation could have been far more severe.”

Contacts: Ballard Power Systems, Debby Harris (media) 604/412-4740; Praxair, Grant Horner, 604/412-7940.