Handling of hydrogen to supply rocket engine test facilities at the research centre Lampoldshausen of the deutsche Forschungsanstalt fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Germany

On the testing site of the DLR research centre Lampoldshausen, hydrogen is handled for the testing of rocket engines and steam generators at different pressures and in the liquefied state. The potential risk posed by the hydrogen necessitates the drawing up of a safety conception. For this the procedure at the research centre is in accordance with the generally acknowledged strategies. As primary measures for the avoidance of incidents the plant is constructed according to the state of the art and science as regards the process engineering. To this end, besides the national regulations, the international rules and regulations as well as relevant publications (e.g. ESA, NASA, DLR, SEP) are applied. Due to the specific risks for testing operations, the safety conception at the centre covers the control of malfunctions as well as limitates the resultant consequences. To make this possible, leakage assumptions are made for the test facilities and the consequential effects are taken into account. The assessment criteria for the consequential effect are laid down according to the potential threat from the hydrogen. For the operation of a test facility determined safety and protection distances are temporarily set up. Plant parts in permanent contact with the hydrogen are separated from the test facilities by structural means. Supplementary measures within the safety conception are a system for early identification of failure, a danger detection system, which relays all alarms to a safety centre and stationary facilities for fire fighting. For safety technology an independent safety department has been set up which by means of redundant communications equipment is linked with the plants at the research centre as well as with external authorities.