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Mechanical Explosion arising from in-situ Hydrogen generation in a fabricated cylinder: Fundamentals and Forensic awareness

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Author Affiliations

  • 1Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Govt. of Karnataka, Mysore, Karnataka, India
  • 2Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Govt. of Karnataka, Mysore, Karnataka, India
  • 3Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Govt. of Karnataka, Hubballi, Karnataka, India
  • 4Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Govt. of Karnataka, Mysore, Karnataka, India

Res. J. Forensic Sci., Volume 14, Issue (2), Pages 27-33, July,29 (2026)

Abstract

Improvised metallic cylinders are gradually being misused for the generation of chemical gas without conformity to standard pressure-vessel design. The significant gas pressure and heat is generated by hydrogen formed from aluminium–alkali reactions, which creating conditions that may exceed the structural capacity of non-engineered vessel/containers. Present article describes the basic chemistry of generation of hydrogen using caustic soda and aluminium, the mechanism of pressure development along with the principles of engineering regulating safe pressure-vessel design. The practical and real life cylinder failure is presented as an anonymised case study. The detailed analysis reveals that the stress developed in present scenario that the fabricated aluminium vessel possessed insufficient wall thickness and weld reliability for the pressure potentially generated. The main aim of the present research article is to suggest the public and enforcement awareness concerning the dangers of using uncertified fabricated cylinders for the production of hydrogen for many purposes and highlights the requirement of the legal compliance and safety education. The present work inspected the structural integrity and failure potential of a fabricated aluminium cylinder repurposed for the hydrogen gas storage and generation.

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