CGA H-17, Guideline for Small Scale Hydrogen Production

With the increased demand for hydrogen for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), smaller hydrogen production facilities are becoming more common. Unlike industrial sites for hydrogen production, these smaller plants and the loading facilities associated with them can be more visible and accessible to the public. The end users of this hydrogen might have little or no experience in the chemical process industry. In addition, these facilities are more likely than large hydrogen plants to be operated unattended or partially attended (not around the clock).

CGA H-17, Guideline for Small Scale Hydrogen Production, provides a single comprehensive set of safety and operating guidelines to address the multiple hazards associated with the operation of small-scale hydrogen production plants that use various hydrogen production methodologies.

Some of the main issues that impact small scale hydrogen production facilities and the end users are listed below:

• Mitigating process hazards from flammable, toxic, and high temperature gases, high voltage electricity, and hazardous process materials such as water treatment chemicals, catalysts, and adsorbents.
• Dealing with hazards from a bulk liquid hydrogen backup storage system, which may be large enough to require a plan to comply with OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) and EPA Risk Management Program (RMP) regulations.
• Minimizing the impact of co-locating the production facility with a vehicle fueling station and dealing with public users of the fueling station.
• Mitigating the safety concerns associated with a partially staffed (lone worker) or unstaffed production facility.