Hydrogen Systems Component Safety

The deployment of hydrogen technologies, particularly the deployment of hydrogen dispensing systems for passenger vehicles requires that hydrogen components perform reliably in environments where they have to meet the following performance parameters:

• Perform safely where the consumer will be operating the dispensing equipment
• Dispense hydrogen at volumes comparable to gasoline dispensing stations in timeframes comparable to gasoline stations
• Deliver a fueling performance that is within the boundaries of consumer tolerance
• Perform with maintenance/incident frequencies comparable to gasoline dispensing systems

This paper will describe the typical components of a hydrogen dispensing and storage system, describe the hazards associated with these systems and components, describe safety measures currently in place in codes and standards, identify outstanding areas of safety concern, and measures to address the outstanding areas of concern.
The paper will use incident frequency data from NREL’s Technology Validation project to more quantitatively identify safety concerns in hydrogen dispensing and storage systems.