Preliminary Risk Assessment of Hydrogen Refuelling Stations in a Multifuel Context

Sylvaine Pique (1) , Sebastien Quesnel (2) , Benno Weinberger (1) , Quentin Nouvelot (2) , Deborah Houssin-Agbomson (3) , Elena Vyazmina (3) , David Torrado , Ju Lynne Saw (4)

1 INERIS - Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques
2 ENGIE Lab CRIGEN
3 Air Liquide, Paris Innovation Campus
4 Health and Safety Executive

The MultHyFuel Project [1], funded by the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU), aims to achieve the effective and safe deployment of hydrogen as a net-zero alternative fuel, by developing a common strategy for implementing Hydrogen Refuelling Stations (HRS) in multifuel context. The project contributes to the harmonization of existing regulations code and standards (RCS) for industrial applications by generating practical, theoretical and experimental data related to HRS, embedding regulatory and industrial stakeholders to the project progress. This paper presents a preliminary risk assessment performed for three different hydrogen refuelling configurations, presented in project Deliverable 3.1 [2], each intended to be integrated into a multifuel station. In terms of the hydrogen refuelling configurations, we discuss the following points: • detail on typical components of hydrogen refuelling stations, such as compressor, high pressure buffer storage, cooling system and dispenser, • different modes of supply of hydrogen (high-pressure storage (trailers or bundles), hydrogen production by electrolysis, and stationary liquid hydrogen storage), • different operating conditions of the dispenser - i.e. flow and pressure - but only delivering compressed gaseous hydrogen. The objective of this preliminary risk assessment is not limited only to the identification of the major hazards - and the consideration of various prevention and protection measures specific to the hydrogen installation - but also, the mitigation measures to limit the potential of domino effects due to the potential hazards from other fuels within the multifuel refuelling station. In this preliminary risk assessment, Hazards Identification (HAZID) for hydrogen was implemented following the three steps below: • the description of typical HRSs, • the characterization of the potential hazards (substance, process...), • and a previous H2 facility incident review to formulate lessons learned. This example preliminary risk assessment illustrates how potential major accident scenarios were identified, and presents proposed prevention or protection measures in order to reduce the occurrence of these scenarios and mitigate the escalation of hazardous events”. In addition, some prevention and protection measures were recommended when it was not possible to determine if they were universally implemented in Hydrogen Refuelling Stations. Finally, knowledge gaps for the determination of Hazardous Area Classifications, likelihood of hydrogen leaks and extent of consequences were highlighted, in order to be analysed and investigated experimentally within future steps of the MultHyFuel Project [1].

Domains: Environmental Engineering

Sylvaine Pique, Sebastien Quesnel, Benno Weinberger, Quentin Nouvelot, Deborah Houssin-Agbomson, et al.. Preliminary Risk Assessment of Hydrogen Refuelling Stations in a Multifuel Context. 17. International Symposium on Loss Prevention and Safety Promotion in the Process Industry, Jun 2022, Prague, Czech Republic. ⟨10.3303/CET2290039⟩. ⟨ineris-03876043⟩