Designing Safety & Sustainability in Hydrogen - Lifecycle of Safety from Discovery to Delivery

Safety and sustainability are of paramount importance to every company that is involved in the discovery and delivery of hydrogen. Process safety focuses on the prevention of dangerous situations, such as fires, explosions, and the loss of containment. Applying the NIOSH/OSHA Hierarchy of Controls ensures that the correct safety measures are in place throughout the discovery through the delivery process of hydrogen. A real-world case study on the application of the Hierarchy of Control (Elimination, Substitution, Engineering Controls, Administration Controls, and PPE) to hydrogen processes we will demonstrate that the Best Available Technology (BAT) is in place throughout the safety lifecycle of hydrogen. Using inherently safety strategies throughout the lifecycle avoids hazards instead of controlling them, particularly by reducing the amount of hazardous material and the number of hazardous operations in the laboratories, plants, and delivery systems. Using connected systems throughout the lifecycle will improve safety in the digital world by providing a continuous feedback loop. The final feedback in the lifecycle of safety is the lessons learned from hydrogen incidents and the feedback loop to the design and operation to prevent another incident from occurring. Industry Groups such as the AIChE Center of Hydrogen Safety (CHS) are critical to this process Henry Ford stated: “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”