At 1:18 AM 10/23/4, Grimer wrote: >I can't see why handling a gas which is >100% hydrogen would be much of a problem in the 21st century. Even in the most >famous accident involving hydrogen (the Hindenburg disaster) two thirds of the >nearly one hundred people on board escaped.
I forgot to address the Hindenburg analogy. The Hindenburg was a gas bag filled to about atmospheric pressure. It ignited before dumping its contents, not after. When that happens you essentially have a flare. If a big transmission line breaks, it is like opening the valve on a 600-1000 psi gas bottle 30" in diameter and 5 miles or more long. It tends to mix its contents with air. If it does not ignite right away then you get a big explosion. Hydrogen is explosive at a wider range of mixtures than natural gas. My memory is not good, but a gas transmission line broke in a valley in West Virginia or Pennsylvania back in the 1930's I think. I may have the facts a bit wrong but the basic truth is there. It destroyed several square miles of the valley. Fortunately the valley wasn't densely populated. Regards, Horace Heffner
