Composite cylinders can be manufactured to standards written by CSA, ASME, and ISO depending on the application and local requirements. Several ISO standards can serve as the basis for composite cylinder approvals within North America.

Liquid hydrogen is much less likely to pool than liquified natural gas (LNG) due to its low heat of vaporization. Very large facilities are often equipped with methods to enhance vaporization, such as crushed stone under tanks, as well as diversion systems to allow liquid hydrogen to spill and boil off in a safe area. Care needs to be taken that diversion systems do not create a hazardous…

By definition, liquid hydrogen can BLEVE, but this is highly unlikely. Liquid hydrogen is stored in a double wall tank with vacuum insulation. This protects the primary pressure vessel from direct impingement and the very cold liquid provides self-cooling of the vessel walls. Tanks are also equipped with redundant pressure relief systems that are sized for fire exposure.

Flammable hydrogen releases can result in deflagration and transition to a detonation. Whether the
deflagration transitions to a detonation depends on numerous parameters such as cloud size, hydrogen
concentration, confinement, and congestion. Releases into confined or congested areas are more
susceptible to generating significant deflagration over-pressures and more likely to…

Underground storage tanks can be either installed in a vault or directly buried. Both offer additional
protection from external impact and fire, but each has unique challenges. Vaults must be properly
ventilated and designed to not create an explosion or asphyxiation risk. Direct burial vessels should not
have any underground leak points and must be protected from corrosion. Both…

There are numerous models that can be used to assess the consequence and risk of leaks and releases.
One such model is HYRAM which is publicly available from Sandia and the US DOE.

Emergency response procedures must be developed for each system based on its design. The
procedures generally include steps to clear personnel from the immediate area, isolate the hydrogen,
shut down the equipment, contact local responders, and protect surrounding equipment/structures until
the hazard is mitigated or the incident is over.

CGA G-5.5 states: All vent stacks shall be grounded and meet the requirements of NFPA 70, National Electrical Code, for integrity and system design and also references NFPA 77, Recommended Practice on Static Electricity, and NFPA 780, Standard for the Installation of Lightning Protection Systems. 

For lightening refer to NFPA 780 and for grounding of the Hydrogen equipment, refer to…

AICHE ELA253 CHS ” Introduction to Hydrogen Safety for First Responders” is a good reference and discusses both LH2 and GH2. LH2 fires are very unusual. LH2 releases usually are GH2 so the fires at either ambient for low flow or the GH2 is a cryo temperature for high flow. Fires from LH2 tanks ignite less frequently than GH2 high-velocity releases. The colder the gas the less potential for…

This production rate of hydrogen of about 96 kg/h is quite significant, which depending upon the application might require a significant amount of storage. There will be a need to determine how many kg the project wants to store from this production rate in order to determine how much hydrogen ground storage is needed. Since the project is in Europe, look for pressure vessel manufacturers that…