Taylor J. Smith wrote: >Would someone please tell me what actually happened at >SRI in 1992?
The phenomenon that caused the tragedy is called "recalescence" and is related to rapid phase change in some alloys which can be aggravated by the low inversion temperature of hydrogen - if the metal is a hydride. This was the case at SRI. It was known to happen with Pd-Ag systems going back to the age of the Zeppelin since one alloy which was used in hydrogen purification was subject to recalescence - but no one at SRI knew about it, and J&M had apparently failed to warn them (not that they were obligated to do so). The subsequent claims and litigation was never made public AFAIK. It happens in only a few select metallurgical systems, but can be seen in a spike in the cooling curve. The phase change is abrupt and all the phase change energy must come out as heat in a very short time, which is usually no problem - unless the alloy is hydrided as well. The heat ignites the hydrogen which is being rapidly expelled. Jones
