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As 2020 comes to a close, we reflect back on a year of uncertainty that impacted all corners of the world. As of the writing of this article, the current international Coronavirus cases are just below 80-million with the number of deaths at about 1.75-million1. With those numbers, the worldwide fatality rate [(# of deaths / # of cases) * 100%)] is right around 2.2%. These are alarming numbers considering at the close of 2019, we were only just beginning to hear about the COVID-19 virus. However, we end 2020 with hope in the form of vaccine emergency use authorizations (EUAs) and distribution rollouts beginning around the world. Initial study results indicate an effective rate between 90%-95% for the two vaccines currently authorized.
In previous articles in this series, BakerRisk discussed the hydrogen economy and high-level hazards. Additionally, best practices and general guidance for performing a PHA on hydrogen processing facilities to accurately assess all the risks and consequences associated with hydrogen were also covered. This article will focus on the materials and potential damage mechanisms and hazards associated with the operation of equipment exposed to hydrogen, including pressure vessels, pipelines, piping, and other equipment handling hydrogen.
Hydrogen has been used in petroleum refining, fertilizer production, chemical synthesis and many more applications for centuries. Throughout hydrogen’s use, releases have resulted in numerous explosion and fire incidents. Hydrogen is becoming more prevalent as a low carbon energy solution since it can be used both as an energy carrier as well as a replacement for raw materials. As hydrogen is adopted across more industries and applications, continued emphasis on preventing release and escalation is essential.
Test programs, such as those discussed above, have provided significant validation of the current methodologies used to analyze hydrogen hazards. Despite the enormous amount of work done by BakerRisk, the ERC, and others to understand the hazards associated with hydrogen, there is still more work to be done.
As the biofuels industry continues to expand in support of global decarbonization mandates and objectives, facility owners and developers are being challenged to balance production efficiency, operational reliability, and personnel safety.
The promise of hydrogen as the simplest of molecules and perhaps the most challenging and perplexing of energy carriers has the clean energy world diving into hydrogen applications across all major energy categories.
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