Development of Tools for Risk Assessment and Risk Communication for Hydrogen Applications

For decades risk assessment has been an important tool in risk management of activities in several industries world wide. It provides among others, authorities and stakeholders with a sound basis for creating awareness about existing and potential hazards and risks and making decisions related to how they can prioritise and plan expenditures on risk reduction. The overall goal of the ongoing HySafe project is to contribute to the safe transition to a more sustainable development in Europe by facilitating the safe introduction of hydrogen technologies and applications. An essential element in this is the demonstration of safety: that all safety aspects related to production, transportation and public use are controlled to avoid that introducing hydrogen as energy carrier should pose unacceptable risk to the society.
History has proven that introducing risk analysis to new industries is beneficial, e.g. in transportation and power production and distribution. However, this will require existing methods and standards to be adapted to the specific applications. Furthermore, when trying to quantify risk, it is of utmost importance to have access to relevant accident and incident information. Such data may in many cases not be readily available, and the utilisation of them will then require specific and long lasting data collection initiatives.
In this paper we will present the work that has been undertaken in the HySafe project in developing methodologies and collecting data for risk management of hydrogen infrastructure. Focus is laid on the development of risk acceptance criteria and on the demonstration of safety and benefits to the public. A trustworthy demonstration of safety will have to be based on facts, especially on facts widely known, and emphasis will thus be put on the efforts taken to establish and operate a database containing hydrogen accident and incident information, which can be utilised in risk assessment of hydrogen applications. A demonstration of safety will also have to include a demonstration of risk control measures, and the paper will also present work carried out on safety distances and ignition source control.