Consideration Of The Threat from Hydrogen As We Expand Its Use

Hydrogen has been used for many years across a number of industries and its characteristics as a flammable fluid are well known. As the world starts its progression to net zero, hydrogen is seen as a form of energy that is both transportable and flexible and can replace traditional hydrocarbon fuels. Looking forward, there exists plans for uses of liquid and gaseous hydrogen at much wider ranges of volumes and pressures than are typical of current hydrocarbon projects. Assets include production, storage, transmission, transport and distribution and can be across onshore, marine, and offshore locations. Therefore, there is potential for a wide range of fire, explosion and cryogenic spill hazard scenarios from accidental releases of hydrogen. This paper considers the hazards from hydrogen, for new and developing uses, that are outside the current well understood operating window for hydrogen systems.