AIR LIQUIDE LARGE INDUSTRIES U.S. LP
gas_transmission Incident — — February 5, 2022
Incident Information
| Incident Date | February 5, 2022 |
| Operator | AIR LIQUIDE LARGE INDUSTRIES U.S. LP |
| Commodity | HYDROGEN GAS |
| Pipeline Type | gas_transmission |
Location
| State | |
| Coordinates | 28.20367, -98.37830 |
Cause
| Cause | MATERIAL FAILURE OF PIPE OR WELD |
| Subcause | ENVIRONMENTAL CRACKING-RELATED |
Casualties
| Fatalities | 0 |
| Injuries | 0 |
Costs
| Property Damage | $70,000 |
| Emergency Response | $0 |
| Other Costs | $10,000 |
Location Map
Incident Narrative
AT ~12:45PM ON 02/05/22 THE AIR LIQUIDE OPERATION CONTROL CENTER (OCC) RECOGNIZED THAT A CUSTOMER FLOW AND PRESSURE DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY. AT 1:28PM THE OCC CONTROLLER MADE THE DECISION TO CLOSE THE UPSTREAM REMOTE OPERATED VALVE. AT 3:00PM THE PIPELINE TECHNICIAN ARRIVED ON SITE AND CONFIRMED THE BREACH IN THE PIPELINE. ADDITIONAL PIPELINE OPERATIONS TECHNICIANS WERE DEPLOYED TO ISOLATE BOTH MANUAL BLOCK VALVE UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM OF THE INCIDENT SITE. THE ROOT CAUSE ANALYSIS (RCA) OF THE FAILED GIRTH WELD SHOWED THE WELD WAS MANUFACTURED USING AN OXY-ACETYLENE WELDING METHOD. THE BASE METAL AND WELD METAL WERE BOTH CONSISTENT WITH THE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES OF THE TIME OF INSTALLATION. THE RCA ALSO CONCLUDED THAT CRACKING IN THE PIPE BODY APPEARED LONGITUDINALLY ALIGNED AND CONFINED TO REGIONS CONTAINING CARBIDE BANDING AND OTHER INCLUSIONS. THE CRACKING WAS CONSISTENT WITH HYDROGEN INDUCED CRACKING.
About This Pipeline Incident
Pipeline incident data is reported to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). All significant incidents involving fatalities, injuries, or property damage over $50,000 must be reported.