Hydrogen Safety in Water Electrolysers

Known for its versatility and adaptability, hydrogen is seen as the key to reducing carbon emissions in the world's most polluting industries. Hydrogen itself is non-toxic, but it presents unique safety concerns in both production facilities and the infrastructure to distribute and utilize it. The production of hydrogen via electrolysis possesses unique safety challenges, due to co-production of oxygen and hydrogen in a two compartments of a single reactor separated by a thin membrane. Potential leakage through membrane or its rupture can rapidly cause formation of an explosive hydrogen-oxygen mixture inside of the reactor. Finding suitable and cost-effective solutions to mitigate the explosion hazard becomes especially more challenging for larger scale electrolyser plants. Various solutions have been proposed by academia and industry to mitigate such risks.

In the present work, we will discuss the hydrogen related hazards in electrolysers and will review available solutions proposed by academia and industry to mitigate the risks.