Fire and Explosion Safety of Hydrogen Energy Facilities

Abstract

Due to the high fire and explosion hazard of hydrogen, ensuring the safety of hydrogen energy infrastructure facilities is a very important task. The scientific basis for the development of the normative documents on fire and explosion hazard of hydrogen energy facilities was laid out in the studies of Russian and foreign researchers. This article analyzes Russian normative documents in the field under consideration. The most important among them is the Concept for the development of hydrogen energy in the Russian Federation, aimed at the production, storage, transportation, and use of hydrogen. This document defines the goals, problems, strategic initiatives, and key measures for the development of hydrogen energy with the main guidelines for the future until 2050. One of the main goals of hydrogen energy development is to combat climatic changes caused by using fossil fuels and conditioned by the greenhouse gas emissions. However, it is concluded that the Russian regulatory framework is insufficient for the development of hydrogen energy. NFPA 2 standard is considered as a normative document containing safety requirements to the installations for the production, storage, transportation, and use of hydrogen in the gaseous and liquid phase. It contains both general and specific requirements for infrastructure facilities, such as: filling stations; hydrogen storage in the gaseous and liquid phase, as well as using metal hydrides; facilities for producing hydrogen and energy using hydrogen; technological equipment containing hydrogen; laboratory premises; parking lots for cars using hydrogen as fuel, etc. Many of these requirements can be used to create a Russian regulatory framework for hydrogen energy.