Safety Considerations in Cryogenic Liquid Hydrogen Bunkering

The presentation aims to analyse safety considerations concerning the transfer of cryogenic liquid hydrogen (LH2). It will cover all three applications related to LH2 transfer, including filling a stationary tank, bunkering of ships or refuelling a truck. The relevant loss of containment (LOC) scenarios will be analysed. This will be followed by brief summary of the available large-scale test data, which provide useful insight while still leaving gaps in the understanding of some safety critical LOC scenarios. Examples of these include hydrogen jet fire attacks on LH2 tanks, effects of tank insulations, LH2 spill over water of different salinity and temperature, the propensity to rapid phase transition and ignition, both could result in semi-confined explosions between ship and harbour. The need for further large-scale tests to fill these safety critical gaps will be highlighted.

The presentation will then outline a framework for risk and consequence analysis using established risk assessment methods and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques, incorporating consideration for barrier walls and safety distances.