Hydrogen Safety Challenges: A Comprehensive Review on Production, Storage, Transport, Utilization, and CFD-Based Consequence and Risk Assessment

Abstract

This review examines the central role of hydrogen, particularly green hydrogen from renewable sources, in the global search for energy solutions that are sustainable and safe by design. Using the hydrogen square, safety measures across the hydrogen value chain—production, storage, transport, and utilisation—are discussed, thereby highlighting the need for a balanced approach to ensure a sustainable and efficient hydrogen economy. The review also underlines the challenges in safety assessments, points to past incidents, and argues for a comprehensive risk assessment that uses empirical modelling, simulation-based computational fluid dynamics (CFDs) for hydrogen dispersion, and quantitative risk assessments. It also highlights the activities carried out by our research group SaRAH (Safety, Risk Analysis, and Hydrogen) relative to a more rigorous risk assessment of hydrogen-related systems through the use of a combined approach of CFD simulations and the appropriate risk assessment tools. Our research activities are currently focused on underground hydrogen storage and hydrogen transport as hythane.