H2Tech - Q3 2021 - 40

SAFETY AND SUSTAINABILITY
Key safety considerations for the rollout
of H2
infrastructure
K. VILAS, Baker Engineering and Risk Consultants Inc., Houston, Texas
The international hydrogen economy
is set to boom in the next few years with
Europe emerging as the clear leader in investment
and policy support for the sector.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic heavily
impacting economies, 2020 saw six European
countries, as well as the European
Commission, release H2
of a green recovery plan.1
strategies as part
Annual global
investments are expected to exceed $1 B
by 2023, with spending increasing rapidly
after that year. With lofty goals of 55% decarbonization
by 2030 and net-zero carbon
emissions by 2050, five key European
countries (France, Germany, Italy, Portugal
and Spain) are predicted to invest more
than $44 B in blue and green H2
projects.
tomakers, H2
In the U.S., major oil companies, auproducers
and fuel cell
manufacturers are pushing policymakers
to follow Europe's lead in making a major
commitment to H2
infrastructure. In a
recent report by McKinsey & Co., " Roadmap
to a U.S. hydrogen economy, " forecasts
show that H2
for low-carbon sources
The recould
supply approximately 14% of the
country's energy needs by 2050.2
port goes on to state that the U.S. already
has an H2
industry valued at about $17.6
B. Reaching the outlined targets could result
in $140 B/yr in revenue by 2030 and
$750 B/yr by 2050.
The factors driving this rapid acceleration
are the decreasing costs of H2
production
technology and transportation,
and increases in public and government
support. To date, government incentives
and investments have been instrumental
in assisting with the advancement of H2
fueling technology and infrastructure.
However, research suggests that state aid
to co-fund the H2
network is not enough
to drive the buildout of the technology,
meaning that costs will need to shift to
private industry and public investment.
40 Q3 2021 | H2-Tech.com
Industry has reported challenges with
small stations remaining profitable due
to the large capital and operating costs, as
well as the limited opportunity to generate
income through fuel sales.3
lic adoption of H2
To grow pubon
the safety aspects of H2
technology, education
and successful
mitigation of the risks associated with the
technology are of utmost importance.
One aspect of H2
that is under-appreciated
outside of the industry is that the
technology is well established, which
sometimes is not thoroughly understood
with increasing interest in new applications
of H2
technologies. H2
has been an
industrial gas for a long time, and the production,
transport and storage logistics
are well established. However, for H2
to
be used widely as a consumer product,
the existing infrastructure must be modified
and expanded.1
With falling costs and
value chain. These
a push for clean energy, new companies
are entering the H2
rapidly evolving companies, unlike traditional
producers and sellers, may not fully
appreciate the unique safety challenges
posed by H2
.
Recent H2 incidents. As stated previously,
it is essential that safety remains
an integral part of the aggressive rollout
of H2
technology and infrastructure. H2
has unique characteristics and must be
handled differently than traditional fuels.
Integrating a rigorous approach to risk
management early in the process may prevent
incidents from happening that disrupt
networks, slow the acceptance of H2
,
or derail the industry indefinitely. The
following H2
portant lesson to be learned:4
* Limitations of H2
infrastructure were demonstrated
by the network impacts following
incidents occurred within a
month of one another, each with an imvehicle
fueling
the Santa Clara, California
explosion
* Poor public perception of H2
safety
was evident in protests following
the explosion in Gangneung, Korea
* Lack of confidence in technology
caused multiple station closures
across Europe following the station
explosion in Baerum, Norway.
Santa Clara, California. On June 1,
2019, an H2 explosion occurred at the
Air Products chemical, gas storage and
transportation facility in Santa Clara. In
this incident, an H2
tanker truck was betransfer
to the
ing filled when a leak occurred. During
the shutdown of the H2
tanker truck, an explosion occurred that
damaged the emergency shutoff panel and
valve near the tanker. While two valves
were shut off, the valve closest to the tanker
truck could not be closed, and the fire
continued to burn for nearly 2 hr. This fire,
which was not visible to the human eye, resulted
in the shutdown of the Air Products
facility through September 2019.
As the only provider of H2
for H2
fueling
in the Bay Area region, the shutdown
of the Air Products facility resulted in a
disruption to the distribution network
that lasted for months. While a small supply
was available from southern California,
the limited availability of fuel was not
enough to meet demand. By the time the
facility reopened in September 2019, left
with no reasonable choice but to abandon
their vehicles until fuel supplies returned,
many local FCEV owners traded in their
cars for low-carbon options such as electric
vehicles and hybrids.
Gangneung, Korea. In May 2019, an
H2 tank explosion destroyed a complex
half the size of a soccer field, killing two
people and injuring six more at Gangwon
Technopark. Preliminary investigations
suggest that the explosion resulted from a
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