A milestone in safety of industrial-scale green hydrogen production

The publication, which is the first in a series of reports, examines existing challenges, shortcomings and pitfalls, and identifies knowledge gaps with regards to process safety in electrolysis facilities and equipment.

Building on the future of hydrogen production safety

Decarbonising hydrogen - making truly Net Zero hydrogen - is an important step towards mitigating climate change. Yet, experience in operations and maintenance is lacking for large-scale plant designs. Consequently, the required production ramp-up poses an important challenge to the industry.

The research program, which is a joint effort between various industry players, aims to increase knowledge sharing across stakeholders and ensure hydrogen can be further developed as a green technology without making any compromises on safety. As a partner in this project, we are excited to share the first publication, which summarises results of the year-long initial project phase.

Focus on fire and explosion risk

The report places a special focus on fire and explosion risk associated with the combination of oxygen and hydrogen in equipment and buildings. An explorative examination of these factors was conducted through extensive cooperation with safety experts from HyCC, Ørsted, Shell, Yara, DNV, Royal HaskoningDHV and TNO. Additionally, interviews were held with electrolyser suppliers to make sure their input and feedback could be included in the project results as well. The Institute for Sustainable Process Technology (ISPT) managed the process and provided a steady platform for collaboration to the parties involved.

Our focus was to lead an assessment on the potential explosion risk of individual electrolyser components. Furthermore, we led literature research projects on (1) the consequence modelling of explosions in electrolysers and (2) risk quantification – identifying the available methods and where the gaps currently lie within this process.

Second phase underway

The findings will be a first step towards achieving a uniform and consistent risk assessment methodology for large-scale green hydrogen plants. Above all, they will serve as valuable input for the second project phase, which dives deeper into the identified risks and widens the scope to a more international level. Results of this second milestone will be presented in a similar fashion and are expected to be published in 2025.