Enhancing Safety in Hydrogen Transportation: Learning from a Landmark Incident
Key Ideas
- The article highlights the importance of safety in the transportation and storage of gases, with a focus on hydrogen.
- A significant incident in Ramona, Oklahoma in 2001 led to improvements in the design standards for gas tube trailers.
- The collaboration between the industry and the Compressed Gas Association resulted in the development of new design requirements for tube trailers known as C29.
- The new standards have been fully incorporated into the Department of Transport's Code of Federal Regulations CFR 49, emphasizing the commitment to safety.
The article discusses the critical importance of safety in the transportation and storage of gases, particularly focusing on hydrogen due to public perceptions of its safety. It recounts a significant incident in Ramona, Oklahoma in 2001, where a conventional trailer crash led to a gas leak and fire that resulted in fatalities. Investigations into the crash revealed structural integrity issues with the gas tube trailer design. This incident prompted the National Transportation Safety Board to advocate for a reassessment of design standards for gas tube trailers. Subsequently, the industry collaborated with the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) to develop a new standard, C29 (formerly TB-25), outlining design requirements for tube trailers and tube modules. These new standards are now fully integrated into the Department of Transport's Code of Federal Regulations CFR 49, demonstrating a proactive approach to enhancing safety in hydrogen transportation.