Hydrogen Tanker Malfunction

Causes I-84 Travel Delays

By Andrew Gorosko

Emergency service personnel experienced some anxious moments midday on Thursday, November 11, after a large liquefied hydrogen tanker-truck, which was headed eastward on Interstate 84, malfunctioned, posing the risk of the highly combustible hydrogen igniting and exploding.

The truck’s unidentified driver left the vehicle after parking it alongside the road for fear that the cargo might ignite and explode.

The incident caused hourlong traffic backups on both sides of the highway, with the road being closed by state police in both directions between Exits 9 and 10.

At 11:58 am, Hawleyville, Newtown Hook & Ladder, and Sandy Hook firefighters were alerted that a malfunctioning hydrogen tanker was parked on the right road shoulder of eastbound I-84, in the area between the Exit 9 interchange and the Tunnel Road overpass.

Hawleyville and Newtown Hook & Ladder firefighters went to the scene. Sandy Hook firefighters took atmospheric readings on Tunnel Road, Whippoorwill Road, and Susan Lane to determine whether the supercooled hydrogen venting from the tanker truck posed any risks to nearby neighborhoods, but it did not.

 Hawleyville Deputy Fire Chief Joe Farrell said the substance being transported in the large tanker truck was cryogenic hydrogen, refrigerated to its liquid state. Gaseous hydrogen liquefies at 253 degrees below zero, centigrade. The substance is transported under high pressure in highly insulated vacuum tankers to keep it liquefied.

Mr Farrell said that while under transport, the tanker’s vacuum-based insulating mechanism apparently malfunctioned, resulting in the hydrogen getting warmer than it should have been and pressure levels within the storage container increasing, causing an automatic depressurization valve of the storage tank to open.

When firefighters arrived on the scene, the truck’s engine was still running and hydrogen gas was venting from the tanker, Mr Farrell said. A white gaseous plume was visible rising upward about 75 feet above the tanker. The venting gas made a noisy “whooshing” sound.

Firefighters cautiously approached the tanker and turned off the truck’s engine to prevent any spark from causing the venting hydrogen to ignite, he said. The tanker truck was parked near the end of a climbing lane, east of Exit 10.

Firefighters had state police close down traffic on both sides of the interstate. Traffic was blocked from entering the westbound I-84 at Exit 10. Eastbound traffic was kept well behind the tanker truck. The highway was closed for about one hour.

The state Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) hazardous materials unit was called to the scene, Mr Farrell said.

Of the prospect for a disaster due to the malfunctioning hydrogen tanker, Mr Farrell said “Anything is possible…It’s scary stuff.”

After DEP hazardous materials experts stabilized the situation, the tanker truck continued to its destination in Watertown with a state police escort as a precaution, Mr Farrell said.