Safety of Hydrogen Systems Installed in Outdoor Enclosures
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
The Hydrogen Safety Panel brings a broad cross-section of expertise from the industrial, government, and academic sectors to help advise the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Fuel Cell Technologies Office through its work in hydrogen safety, codes, and standards. The Panel’s initiatives in reviewing safety plans, conducting safety evaluations, identifying safety-related technical data gaps, and supporting safety knowledge tools and databases cover the gamut from research and development to demonstration and deployment. The Panel’s recent work has focused on the safe deployment of hydrogen and fuel cell systems in support of DOE efforts to accelerate fuel cell commercialization in early market applications: vehicle refueling, material handling equipment, backup power for warehouses and telecommunication sites, and portable power devices. This paper resulted from observations and considerations stemming from the Panel’s work on early market applications. This paper focuses on hydrogen system components that are installed in outdoor enclosures. These enclosures might alternatively be called “cabinets,” but for simplicity, they are all referred to as “enclosures” in this paper. These enclosures can provide a space where a flammable mixture of hydrogen and air might accumulate, creating the potential for a fire or explosion should an ignition occur. If the enclosure is large enough for a person to enter, and ventilation is inadequate, the hydrogen concentration could be high enough to asphyxiate a person who entered the space. Manufacturers, users, and government authorities rely on requirements described in codes to guide safe design and installation of such systems. Except for small enclosures used for hydrogen gas cylinders (gas cabinets), fuel cell power systems, and the enclosures that most people would describe as buildings, there are no hydrogen safety requirements for these enclosures, leaving gaps that must be addressed. This paper proposes that a technical basis be developed to enable code bodies to write requirements for the range of enclosures from the smallest to the largest.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1115836
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-22960
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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