Technical Program
See the Schedule for the 2025 Center for Hydrogen Safety Americas Conference
Technical Program
This schedule is subject to change
| Day 1 - October 14, 2025 - Tuesday | ||
| Start Time | End Time | |
| 8:30 AM | 6:00 PM | Badge Pick-Up & On-site Registration |
| 8:30 AM | 9:00 AM | Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM | 9:05 AM | Conference Welcome |
| 9:05 AM | 9:20 AM | Opening Remarks Joseph Powell - Energy Transition Institute, University of Houston |
| 9:20 AM | 10:00 AM | Keynote Presentation - Hydrogen, Fuel Cell, and Safety Perspectives Dr. Sunita Satyapal - Hydrogen Leader and Former US Department of Energy |
| Session 1 - Fundamental Safety Considerations & Best Safety Practices 1 | ||
| 10:00 AM | 10:20 AM | Hydrogen Safety Fundamentals: facts, fictions and real-world implications |
| 10:20 AM | 10:35 AM | Hydrogen Pilot Projects: Lessons Learned in Operations and Codes Timothy Harris - ENTrust Solutions Group |
| 10:35 AM | 10:50 AM | Hydrogen Safety in Confined Spaces: Comparing Modeling Approaches for Hydrogen Dispersion and Explosion Trixie Secillano - DNV & Diyar Yalcin - DNV |
| 10:50 AM | 11:05 AM | Q&A panel |
| 11:05 AM | 11:35 AM | Break |
| Session 2 - Fundamental Safety Considerations & Best Safety Practices 2 Session Chair: Jennifer Medina - SoCalGas | ||
| 11:35 AM | 11:55 AM | Considerations for Ventilation Rates to Mitigate Hydrogen Releases Danielle Murphy - WHA International |
| 11:55 AM | 12:10 PM | Advancing Hydrogen Ignition Probabilities: Current State, Gaps, and Research Directions Alex Gupta - Electric Power Research Institute |
| 12:10 PM | 12:25 PM | Operational Safety for Hydrogen Fueling Installations Aaron Harris - AcuTech Group, Inc. |
| 12:25 PM | 12:40 PM | Q&A panel |
| 12:40 PM | 2:00 PM | Lunch |
| Session 3 - Process Safety Management & Safety Culture Session Chair: Rob Early - CGA | ||
| 2:00 PM | 2:20 PM | Culture, Controls & Capability – The 3Cs of managing safety risk in the emerging Clean Hydrogen business |
| 2:20 PM | 2:40 PM | David Moore - AcuTech Consulting Group |
| 2:40 PM | 2:55 PM | Safety Culture & Effective Leadership - Understanding & Implementation James Senddon - Risktec Solutions |
| 2:55 PM | 3:10 PM | Safety Design and Management in Hydrogen Projects - a Norwegian Perspective Deshai Botheju - Wood Group Norway |
| 3:10 PM | 3:30 PM | Q&A panel |
| 3:30 PM | 4:00 PM | Break |
| Session 4 - Regulations, Codes, and Standards Session Chair: Dave Farese - Durham Consulting | ||
| 4:00 PM | 4:20 PM | Hazards Associated with the Delayed Ignition of Hydrogen Releases Lee Phillips - Shell Research Ltd. |
| 4:20 PM | 4:40 PM | Seizing the Moment: Advancing Hydrogen Standards in a Shifting Industry Landscape Laura Brumsey - CGA |
| 4:40 PM | 4:55 PM | Phmsa and State Regulation of Hydrogen Pipeline Safety: A Review of Past and Potential Future Approaches James Curry - Babst Calland |
| 4:55 PM | 5:10 PM | CSA Group Research Initiatives - Hydrogen Pipelines Delivery Brett Weinkauf - CSA Group |
| 5:10 PM | 5:30 PM | Q&A panel |
| 5:30 PM | 5:40 PM | CHBC & CHS Announcement Katrina Fritz - California Hydrogen Business Council & Nick Barilo - CHS |
| 5:40 PM | 7:30 PM | Welcome Reception |
| Day 2 - October 15, 2025 - Wednesday | ||
| 8:30 AM | 4:00 PM | Badge Pick-Up & On-site Registration |
| 8:30 AM | 9:00 AM | Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM | 9:05 AM | Morning Welcome Conference Chair: Erin Childs - Renewable Hydrogen Alliance |
| 9:05 AM | 9:45 AM | Keynote Presentation Tom Drube - Chart Industries |
| Session 5 - Safety in Production & Electrolyzers Session Chair: Erin Childs - Renewable Hydrogen Alliance | ||
| 9:45 AM | 10:05 AM | From Design to Operation: Ensuring Safety in Hydrogen Production Plants Christian Plume - Siemens Energy |
| 10:05 AM | 10:20 AM | Best Practices for the Safe Operation of Electrolyzers Rob Early - Compressed Gas Association |
| 10:20 AM | 10:35 AM | Customized Testing of Electrolyzers: Lessons Learned Achim Wechsung - Exponent, Inc. |
| 10:35 AM | 10:50 AM | Q&A panel |
| 10:50 AM | 11:20 AM | Break |
| Session 6 - Hydrogen & Natural Gas Blending & Pipeline Safety 1 Session Chair: Jennifer Medina - SoCalGas | ||
| 11:20 AM | 11:40 AM | High H2 Cofiring Demonstration Project at Chevron’s Cymric 31X Cogen Site on a Solar Centaur 40 SoLoNOx Gas Turbine |
| 11:40 AM | 11:55 AM | VCE Testing of Methane/Hydrogen Blends Darren Malik - BakerRisk |
| 11:55 AM | 12:10 PM | Overcoming Limits of Detection for Identifying Leaks in Buried Hydrogen Pipelines David Peaslee - National Renewable Energy Laboratory |
| 12:10 PM | 12:25 PM | Q&A panel |
| 12:25 PM | 1:45 PM | Lunch |
| Session 7 - Incidents, Investigations, & Lessons Learned Session Chair: Rob Early - CGA | ||
| 1:45 PM | 2:00 PM | Overview of Recent Incidents and Learnings Dave Farese - Durham Consulting |
| 2:00 PM | 2:15 PM | Lessons Learned for Hiad 2.0 Incidents Database: What Were the Failed or Missing Barriers? Hesham Hanafy - Monaco Engineering Solutions |
| 2:15 PM | 2:30 PM | Unexpected Fire Beneath a Steam Methane Reforming Furnace in a Hydrogen Plant Ken Wohlgeschaffen - Chevron |
| 2:30 PM | 2:45 PM | Increase in Loss of Primary Containment of Hydrogen in a Paraffin Hydrotreating Unit: Root Cause Investigation and Lessons Learned Layane Oliveira - Acelen |
| 2:45 PM | 3:05 PM | Q&A panel |
| 3:05 PM | 3:30 PM | Break |
| 3:30 PM | 5:30 PM | Networking Session (Next Door: HIT Poster Session) |
| Day 3 - October 16, 2025 - Thursday | ||
| 8:30 AM | 12:00 PM | Badge Pick-Up & On-site Registration |
| 8:30 AM | 9:00 AM | Breakfast |
| 9:00 AM | 9:05 AM | Morning Welcome |
| 9:05 AM | 9:25 AM | CHS Presentation Nick Barilo - Center for Hydrogen Safety |
| 9:25 AM | 9:55 AM | Voices of Leadership: Strengthening CHS for Our Members |
| Session 8 - Hydrogen & Natural Gas Blending & Pipeline Safety 2 Session Chair: Bob Weber - PSRG | ||
| 9:55 AM | 10:15 AM | Jin Zhang - SoCalGas |
| 10:15 AM | 10:35 AM | Retrofitting Industrial Facilities with Hydrogen Blending for Combustion Applications |
| 10:35 AM | 10:45 AM | Q&A panel |
| 10:45 AM | 11:15 AM | Break |
| Session 9 - Safety Training & First Responder Education Session Chair: Barry DeGrazio - Siemens Energy | ||
| 11:15 AM | 11:30 AM | First Responder Education and Public Communication on Hydrogen Fueling and Production Facilities Danielle Press - HTEC |
| 11:30 AM | 11:45 AM | H2Skills: A national skilled and technical hydrogen workforce training initiative in the USA Rebecca Kreuzer - PNNL |
| 11:45 AM | 12:00 PM | Bridging the Gap: Training a Hydrogen Technician Workforce By Upskilling Adjacent Trades and Partnering with Colleges for Future Readiness Owen Owens - HTEC |
| 12:00 PM | 12:15 PM | Q&A panel |
| 12:15 PM | 1:30 PM | Lunch |
| Session 10 - Hydrogen Safety in Other Applications 1 Session Chair: Kevin Woo - Entrust Solutions | ||
| 1:30 PM | 1:50 PM | Hydrogen in Weather Balloons Martin Gresho - FP2FIRE, INC. |
| 1:50 PM | 2:05 PM | Innovative Solution for Enhanced Safety in Onsite Hydrogen Storage Andrew Cassidy - Vallourec USA Corporation |
| 2:05 PM | 2:20 PM | Sensor Placement and Safety Assessment for an Indoor Hydrogen Facility William Buttner - NREL & Munjal Shah - NREL |
| 2:20 PM | 2:35 PM | Q&A panel |
| Session 11 - Hydrogen Safety in Other Applications 2 Session Chair: Erin Childs - Renewable Hydrogen Alliance | ||
| 2:35 PM | 2:50 PM | Inert Gas Composition Effects on Flammability of Hydrogen Duane Myers - Trimeric Corporation |
| 2:50 PM | 3:05 PM | Hydrogen Station Safety – a Paper Trail of Due Diligence Norman Barmeier - HTEC |
| 3:05 PM | 3:20 PM | Mitigating Risk in Hydrogen Refueling: The need for a second barrier to promote safe refueling and prevent incidents from misuse Annie van Beurden - Shell & Peter Roth - Shell |
| 3:20 PM | 3:35 PM | Q&A panel |
| 3:35 PM | 3:55 PM | Wrap-up Discussion |
| 3:55 PM | 4:00 PM | Closing Remarks |
