This report is developed as a part of the project “EMSA study investigating the safety of hydrogen as fuel on ships”. The overall objective of the project is to carry out a structured set of safety assessments and reliability analyses,delivering a Guidance document addressing ships using hydrogen as fuel. The purpose is to assist the industry and the regulators towards a safe and harmonised deployment of this relevant technology that could demonstrate an important step towards decarbonisation of the sector.

The purpose of this action is to make changes to the Risk Management Program (RMP) rule in order to improve safety at facilities that use and distribute hazardous chemicals. Because major and other serious and concerning RMP accidents continue to occur, this final rule aims to better identify and further regulate risky facilities to prevent accidental releases before they can occur.

On March 11, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published the much-anticipated Safer Communities by Chemical Accident Prevention Rule (SCCAP) Final Rule, an update to EPA’s Risk Management Program (RMP) 40 CFR Part 68, under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAA). This is the first substantial change to the rule since its inception in 1996.

How cryogenic containers workCondensation/StratificationEvaporationLiquid GrowthCryogenic TanksInsulation Methods

The testing provided data to allow the ability of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling to predict accumulation of natural gas from transient releases and temporal and spatial variations in explosion loading. Strain and pressure data was also gained on the structural response to allow assessment of structural modelling. 

Natural gas was first used as a vehicle fuel as far back as the 1930s. The first natural gas vehicles, which ran on uncompressed natural gas, were called “gas bag” vehicles and were used to combat gasoline shortages during World War I [1]. During and after World War II, compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles using fuel tanks mounted on the roof gained popularity in France and Italy [2]. Today, there are more than 24 million CNG vehicles in service worldwide, including CNG buses that continue the early tradition of mounting fuel tanks on the roof.  

The HSP has reviewed many safety plans for gaseous hydrogen. An emerging trend is the use of liquid (cryogenic) hydrogen in the commercial market, potentially near residential areas, for fueling hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. Finding a “qualified” person to determine liquid hydrogen code compliance is difficult, and the skills necessary of such an individual are not well defined in the codes and standards.

Hydrogen Safety Panel, Safety Knowledge Tools, and First Responder Training Resources 

PNNL’s Hydrogen Safety ProgramWhy Hydrogen Fuel?Hydrogen – A Clean, Flexible Energy CarrierWhy Fuel Cells? H2@scale: Enabling Affordable, Reliable, Clean, and Secure Energy Across SectorsUpward trend with global fuel cell shipments 2018 U.S. Snapshot More details in Slides

Introduce the Hydrogen Safety Panel (HSP)Introduce key hydrogen safety resources that are availableOpen discussion on your hydrogen safety issues and needsExplore how the HSP can help the safe rollout of hydrogen and fuel cell technologiesIdentify projects that could utilize the HSP for impactful safety reviews