The hydrogen economy is not possible if the safety standards currently applied to liquid hydrogen and hydrogen gas by many laboratories are applied to devices that use either liquid or gaseous hydrogen. Methane and propane are commonly used by ordinary people without the special training. This report asks, "How is hydrogen different from flammable gasses that are commonly being used all over the world?" This report compares the properties of hydrogen, methane and propane and how these properties may relate to safety when they are used in both the liquid and gaseous state.

The employment of hydrogen has shown a lot of promises as an alternative for conventional fuel sources. However, if not handled properly, hydrogen content as low as 4%2can lead to a life-threatening catastrophe. Some sensors for hydrogen detection have already been built to address this safety issue. Unlike most of the traditional hydrogen sensors, the sensor developed in this study features high sensitivity, fast response, miniature size, and the ability to detect hydrogen under room temperature.

The dispersion characteristics of hydrogen leaking through a small hole from a high-pressure reservoir are investigated numerically and experimentally to provide a guideline in determining the safety distances for hydrogen stations. The studies were carried out for the leaking holes with diameters of 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0mm and for the release pressures at 100, 200, 300 and 400 bar.

In this paper, safety, health and environmental risks of a typical installation handling anhydrous hydrogen chloride were assessed in an integrated approach. A four-step procedure was used as risk assessment framework for this integrated risk assessment. The safety risk was presented as individual risk while Hazard Quotients were calculated for health and environmental risks. Some advantages of such an integrated approach were identified through the exercise.

A liquid hydrogen target for high energy physics experiment, Crystal Ball Spectrometer, was recently built and operated at the Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) particle accelerator at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). The system safety design, operation, and control of the target was analyzed and evaluated during its two-month beam-taking experiment. This paper reports on this cryogenic project.

Recent growth in the development of hydrogen infrastructure has led to more requests for code officials to approve hydrogen-related projects and facilities. To help expedite the review and approval process, significant efforts have been made to educate code officials on permitting hydrogen vehicle fueling stations and facilities using stationary fuel cells (e.g., backup power for telephone cell tower sites).

Hydrogen detection is priority for every launch vehicle where hydrogen is involved. Hydrogen sensors are necessary to monitor the detection of every possible leak. For space application is very challenging to pin point exact location of leaks and public acceptance of hydrogen fuel is require the integration of a reliable hydrogen safety sensor.

Optical hydrogen sensors are intrinsically safe since they produce no arc or spark in an explosive environment caused by the leakage of hydrogen. Safety remains a top priority since leakage of hydrogen in air during production, storage, transfer and distribution creates an explosive atmosphere for concentrations between 4%2(v/v) - the lower explosive limit (LEL) and 74.5%2(v/v) - the upper explosive limit (UEL) at room temperature and pressure. Being a very small molecule, hydrogen is prone to leakage through seals and micro-cracks.

Hydrogen is considered to be a hazardous gas since it forms a flammable mixture between 4 to 75%2by volume in air. Hence, the safety aspects of handling hydrogen are quite important. For this, ideally, highly selective, fast response, small size, hydrogen sensors are needed. Although sensors based on different technologies may be used, thin-film sensors based on palladium (Pd) are preferred due to their compactness and fast response. They detect hydrogen by monitoring the changes to the electrical, mechanical or optical properties of the films.

Optical hydrogen sensors are intrinsically safe since they produce no arc or spark in an explosive environment caused by the leakage of hydrogen. Safety remains a top priority since leakage of hydrogen in air during production, storage, transfer and distribution creates an explosive atmosphere for concentrations between 4%2(v/v) - the lower explosive limit (LEL) and 74.5%2(v/v) - the upper explosive limit (UEL) at room temperature and pressure. Being a very small molecule, hydrogen is prone to leakage through seals and micro-cracks.