APRIL 29, 2015
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS
A Mark West company spokesperson said they're still looking
into what may have caused Tuesday's fire along a hydrogen pipeline, but a
chemistry professor at Texas A&M Corpus Christi addressed the science
behind that sort of chemical reaction.
Tuesday afternoon, a Mark West pipeline caught fire after an
apparent explosion; it was transporting hydrogen away from the Citgo West
plant.
The company maintains that the fire did not pose any
immediate danger to the public, and the facility was not evacuated, but the
large flames and smoke were enough to catch the attention of dozens of people,
who captured the accident on cell phone video.
But what happens when hydrogen burns?
The by-product of that particular chemical reaction turns
out to be pretty harmless, said Assistant Professor of Chemistry Mark Olson.
"If we look at just the oxidation of hydrogen...(it)
produces water as a reaction," Olson said. "The reaction of a
combustion engine on our automobiles is far more dangerous to our health than
burning hydrogen gas."
What causes potential problems, Olson explained, is the heat
of the fire and the potential for other materials to ignite--including just
about anything made, in part, of carbon.
"I think that's really the big risk," Olson said.
"(It) is not the hydrogen burning itself, but is anything else catching
fire in the process."
Mark West public relations spokesperson Patrick Creighton
reiterated that the public was not at risk during Tuesday's incident.
The facility was not evacuated during the blaze.
In an email, Creighton wrote in part: "As soon as there
was ignition, we immediately isolated the pipeline, which shut off the flow of
hydrogen. First responders were on-location shortly after ignition and
restricted vehicle traffic in the immediate area. Had the first responders
felt there was a need to take additional action, they would have done so and we
would have supported their decision."
He noted that Mark West has notified the Texas Commission on
Environmental Quality about the accident, but a TCEQ spokesperson said they are
not yet investigating. This is Texas
after all, contamination and air pollution is like second nature. They could care less about fires and explosions
that are in fact a daily occurrence.
They are what we call “loosey goosy”.
A TCEQ representative also mentioned that no air monitoring
was performed during the incident, "due to the short duration of the
fire."