Summary report of the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking Expert Workshop on the Environmental Impacts of Hydrogen

Contents 1 Climate Change Policy Objective 2 Hydrogen Flexibility 3 Hydrogen Production and Sources4 Hydrogen Properties5 Hydrogen Safety Codes and Standards Overview6 UK Hydrogen Blending Demo Approval7 US Hydrogen Blending Concept8 Pipeline Integrity9 Gas Composition Standards10 Pipeline Standards11 Hydrogen Safety Utilization 12 Conclusion 

The adoption of hydrogen (H²) as a clean, zero-carbon renewable energy source promises a global revolution, eliminating harmful emissions responsible for climate change. This white paper explores the opportunities and implications of an emerging hydrogen society. MSA Safety examines workplace safety risks and challenges posed when producing, handling, transporting, and storing alongside suggested best practices, safety measures, and detection technologies.

An under-expanded hydrogen jet from high-pressure equipment or storage tank is a potential incident scenario. Experiments demonstrated that the delayed ignition of a highly turbulent under-expanded hydrogen jet generates a blast wave able to harm people and damage property. There is a need for engineering tools to predict the pressure effects during such incidents to define hazard distances. The similitude analysis is applied to build a correlation using available experimental data.

This document applies to the recovery phase of a typical emergency management framework that includes planning, response, mitigation, and recovery. This document provides practical guidance with a checklist to help an organization recover from a hydrogen incident and return to normal operations after the event scene has been stabilized and returned to the organization by the incident commander. This document does not include activities related to the immediate emergency response and initial investigations performed by other entities.

The delivery hydrogen vehicle fire at Diamond Bar, CA.  The fire, response and after action summary

This document provides an example safety plan in Attachment A associated with hydrogen and fuel cells, where there is a significant flammability or explosive hazard from quantities, pressures, exposures, or other conditions. Hydrogen is unique among flammable gases in that small quantities may result in ignition or explosions. This example safety plan was developed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) and its Hydrogen Safety Panel (HSP) members to assist entities working with hydrogen to ensure the protection of life, property, and the environment.

The Hydrogen Safety Panel was established by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to provide independent safety reviews and guidance to contractors in the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program. In September 2017, the panel set up a task group to compile select hydrogen incidents from the H2Tools.org Lessons Learned database (https://h2tools.org/lessons) in a publication form for written reference, that are most pertinent to various types of DOE contractor projects. This report is the result of the task group’s work. 

It has been suggested that separation or safety distances for pressurised hydrogen storage can be reduced by the inclusion of walls or barriers between the hydrogen storage and vulnerable plant or other items. Various NFPA codes [1] suggest the use of 60
inclined fire barriers for protection against jet flames in preference to vertical ones. Work by Sandia National Laboratories [2] included experiments and modeling aimed at characterisation of the effectiveness of barrier walls at reducing hazards.