Culturing bacteria is usually a pretty quiet affair. Bacteria aren't too noisy, and the equipment used to keep them happy isn't too dangerous. But there are exceptions. If you're going to culture anaerobes, you need somewhat more advanced technique, what with all that oxygen-is-deadly business. A professional-grade culture chamber for those beasts is usually filled with a mixture of about 80% nitrogen, 10% carbon dioxide, and 10% hydrogen. And those you'll be getting from three compressed gas cylinders, which is how they were doing it in a lab at the University of Missouri until Monday afternoon. . .
Well, regular readers will be expecting this to be a story of someone who did not remember to Treat Compressed Gases With Respect, but that's not the case. No, this is what happens when you don't Treat Hydrogen With Respect - and everyone in the audience who's had a hydrogenation reaction get frisky on them will be nodding their head in agreement at that thought. Somehow, enough hydrogen and enough oxygen got together around an anaerobic culture hood, and the mixture found an ignition source, and well. . .
Problem is, just about any hydrogen/air mixture will do. Anything from about 4% hydrogen in air to about 75% will ignite, and everything except the two ends of that range will go ahead and explode if given the chance. (Only acetylene is worse in that regard). And it doesn't take much to set it off, either, which is the other nasty thing about working with hydrogen. A static-electricity spark is plenty, as are the sparks generated by electrical switch contacts and the like.
As you can see, the lab was not improved by the resulting explosion. The latest report I have is that four people were injured, one seriously enough to still be in the hospital, although their condition has been upgraded to "good".
Initial reports were that this was due to human error, although everyone seems to be backing off that judgment until an official investigation is finished. At any rate, the local fire department stated Monday night that the problem was one or more people in the lab "not being familiar with the warning systems designed to alert them when the hydrogen level was approaching explosive limits (and) the gas was left on". If that was the case, then. . .you ignore a hydrogen level alarm at your peril. And here are seventeen blown-out windows, four people who are lucky not to have been killed, and one demolished lab as evidence.
Update: I had a link up to a commercial anaerobic culture chamber for illustration, but (as the manufacturer points out) these use cylinders of premixed gas with only 5% hydrogen which obviates this very problem. I thought it best to take down the link so that no confusion results - after all, it wasn't the model that was being used in this incident (and in fact would have avoided it completely). I should add that the email I received about this out was exactly the sort of courteous and informative request I have no problem responding to, as opposed to some others that have come in over the years.
(Photos are courtesy of the Missourian and the Columbia Fire Department).
1. Jesse on June 30, 2010 7:49 AM writes...
Does this mean we should think twice before moving to hydrogen-based power sources? Should we expect to see the occasional horrific explosion from our new amazing fuel cell based cars?
Permalink to Comment2. processchemist on June 30, 2010 8:01 AM writes...
Hydrogen detectors are quite cheap and reliable. In case of leaks, the low density of the gas makes hard to obtain dangerous concetrations in a properly ventilated environment. But usually biologists don't have a proper instruction about chemical safety.
Permalink to CommentThere are gases and vapours that makes me more nervous than hydrogen: diethyl ether, hexane, propane, butane, acetylene.
3. drozzy on June 30, 2010 8:32 AM writes...
I don't think it has anything to do with human-error, but rather the poor design of the warning system itself.
The state of the system should have been clearly visible. I bet the indicators were somewhere behind a corner in a closet.
Permalink to Comment4. Mark on June 30, 2010 8:54 AM writes...
I'll bet there were some bleeding eardrums as a result.
Mark
Permalink to Comment5. fuelcelldave on June 30, 2010 8:55 AM writes...
On the subject of Hydrogen cars the attached report is quite interesting in comparing with what we have now
Permalink to Commenthttp://evworld.com/library/swainh2vgasVideo.pdf
6. RB Woodweird on June 30, 2010 9:37 AM writes...
I am going to shamelessly cut and paste from a previous post of mine:
...our PI had a small lab (maybe 8 by 12) right next to his small office. In that lab we had our Parr shaker set up. I went in on a Friday morning and noticed that someone had put in a fresh tank of H2, pressured up and ready to go. On Monday morning I took in my reaction to run. The tank was empty. It had bled out during the weekend, when the PI was busy at his desk not six feet away on the other side of a wooden door. Good thing he was not a smoker.
Permalink to Comment7. Virgil on June 30, 2010 9:58 AM writes...
IIRC, the H2 in these anoxic systems is used with a palladium catalyst, to scavenge O2 and reduce it to H2O. The system (if designed properly) regulates and delivers H2 only when the O2 level climbs above a certain level and requires scavenging. Usually the problems arise with the catalyst needing replacement, or the inlet-pressure on the regulator being set too high so it over-powers the solenoid valve that controls the flow.
Permalink to Comment8. Dave on June 30, 2010 10:29 AM writes...
There are quite a few groups around the world that perform high altitude ballooning. Most of these groups use Helium to inflate their balloons, but some are switching to Hydrogen, due to its MUCH lower cost (and, the slight additional lift doesn't hurt either). However, there is considerable concern over the "Hindenburg effect". Fortunately, most of the large balloons are filled outdoors, so any leaking Hydrogen can dissipate relatively quickly. That still doesn't mean that there isn't a bit of excitement when the initial bit of Hydrogen flows through the pipe and ignites with the residual atmospheric Oxygen in the pipe due to the static produced by it flowing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARHAB
Dave
Permalink to Comment9. processchemist on June 30, 2010 10:46 AM writes...
IMHO, using H2 and a Pd catalyst as oxigen scavenger has an intrinsic level of danger. What happens if suddenly a fair amount of air breaks in the system?
Permalink to CommentI mean, adsorption is an exhotermic process, and many that tried to put dry Pd/C in methanol had a direct experience of this thermodynamic fact. Oxidations are exhotermic reactions. So in this case, the catalyst, if working, should be hot: a perfect ignition tool.
10. Tc King on June 30, 2010 12:23 PM writes...
Where there is an accident there is always blatant negligence. Look at the solvent carboy next to the bombed out mass spec. nOTICE ANYTHING WRONG MY FELLOW SCIENTISTS?
Naughty! Naughty! Bad Scientist!
Release the Lawyers!
Permalink to Comment11. Curt Fischer on June 30, 2010 3:55 PM writes...
Many microbiology labs that use Pd catalysts for O2 scavenging use hydrogen that is supplied as a 5% mixture in nitrogen. That way, any accidental mixing of the H2-containing gas with air will dilute the H2 concentration to below what's needed for flammability or explosivity.
I'm not sure why this lab couldn't do the same.
Permalink to Comment12. newnickname on July 1, 2010 12:31 PM writes...
1980-something. A corner of a building in Kansas or Kentucky was blown apart when the group was preparing 100% H2O2 (it's a lit prep). I wish I could remember more details more accurately.
"Old school" practice was to "crack" the main valve on a new cylinder of gas (N2, etc.) to blow out dust and grit before affixing the regulator. (Today, valves are plastic wrapped and clean upon arrival.) Except NEVER crack the valve on a hydrogen cylinder. Most gases cool upon such rapid expansion; H2 (and a few others) HEAT upon Joule-Thompson expansion with possible explosive repercussions.
Permalink to Comment13. TFox on July 5, 2010 7:25 AM writes...
The anerobic chamber I've used is supplied from a cylinder of trigas mix, I think it's 7 or 10% H2, some CO2 and the rest N2. I understand that the composition was selected so that no possible mix with room air could be explosive, which improves the safety quite a bit. You only need 1-2% H2 in the chamber to scavenge O2, so having a cylinder of 100% H2 around seems like a pointless and easily avoided risk.
Permalink to Comment14. Mike Lee on July 7, 2010 2:50 PM writes...
An on demand Hydrogen generator is a good idea for applications such as this. Storing H2 in a cylinders should be avoided. Even a gas mixture with low levels of H2 are labeled "Flammable" for a reason. I usually recommend a H2 generator with the ambient gas delivered as required to complete the blend. H2 generators store no product. It is a demand system where the product is used as it is produced.
Permalink to Comment15. Tom Viviano on July 7, 2010 9:46 PM writes...
Hydrogen Generators are the way to go in this case. Because they don't store large amounts of gas and it is under 100psig. This makes the system intrinsically safe, you can't reach the 4% concentration for LEL. If a cylinder goes you can see the results I've work for the Parker/
Permalink to CommentBalston. We are the global leader in Gas Generators specifically Hydrogen
16. Jack on July 7, 2010 10:45 PM writes...
Glad to hear nobody was seriously hurt. I agree with the above comments regarding Hydrogen Generators for this application...systems include overflow/leak detections which automatically shut them off if demand exceeds system capacity...at low flow and low pressure, 4% in the room is not possible.
Permalink to Comment17. Kim on July 8, 2010 8:29 AM writes...
Can a generator produce enough gas to achieve a 4% concentration?
Permalink to Comment18. Sharon on August 11, 2010 10:57 AM writes...
It's nice that nobody was seriously injured.
Permalink to CommentLack of knowledge in safety measures is a fatal human error, maybe now they will start to get familiar with the warning systems.
After all familiarity with the things we used is a good precaution!