Characterization of Hydrogen Transport Accidents in Japan Based on Network Theory

Realizing the hydrogen economy in Japan entails a risk assessment of its domestic hydrogen supply, especially hydrogen transport by road. The first step of the risk assessment is to characterize the hydrogen transport accidents from different energy carriers. However, it is difficult to characterize the accidents because hydrogen transport systems have not been fully implemented in Japan. The aim of this study is to characterize the hydrogen transport accidents from different energy carriers in Japan. We studied three major energy carriers, namely compressed hydrogen, liquefied hydrogen, and liquid organic hydride. The accident networks based on network theory were constructed to capture the comprehensive accident processes and quantitatively characterized the hydrogen transport accidents from different energy carriers. The results clarified the differences and similarities in the accident process amongst the energy carriers. Furthermore, key accident events were identified. This study contributes to the development of comprehensive hydrogen transport accident scenarios for risk assessment.