Hydrogen Detonation – A ‘Credible’ Risk To Be Managed

A lesson over many decades in hazardous industries is that significant incidents occur when operators do not give due consideration to very low likelihood events – often deemed to be ‘non credible’. A prime example of this is the UK Buncefield fuel storage terminal explosion in 2005. Prior to this incident, a gasoline vapour cloud explosion was not considered ‘credible’ by most of the industry despite evidence existing to the contrary. Detonation of hydrogen gas releases is a similar very low likelihood event that needs to considered in effective risk management of H2 installations. Building on lessons from Buncefield and bp experience in the early stages of hydrogen projects, this presentation will:
• Provide a quick summary of gas explosion risk including deflagration to detonation transition and its causes
• Explain how this was critical in the Buncefield incident, and the response by regulators and fuel terminal operators
• Discuss the challenges of scaling up a hydrogen business based on current understanding of H2 detonation
• Discuss how operators and regulators can pragmatically manage the risk of hydrogen detonation to ensure we can sustainably grow the hydrogen industry.