We’re on the cusp of one of the biggest transformations in modern history – the shift to a hydrogen economy – and the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) has released an informative new video to support the critical quest for safety in what is fast-becoming a nascent mainstream market.
By doubling-down on safety information and guidance, the video and wider Safe Hydrogen Project from the CGA will in turn tackle the perception battle hydrogen still faces in some quarters.
It is now widely accepted and understood that hydrogen will have a key role to play in the clean energies transition and the decarbonisation movement.
Hydrogen is poised to drive everything from power generation to air transport, shipping, mobility, and infrastructure.
Two things are essential to making this vast new hydrogen energy network function – safety, and interoperability; and the CGA’s Safe Hydrogen Project sits at the intersection of those two imperatives.
The Safe Hydrogen Project is a collaborative global effort to develop and distribute safety information for the production, storage, transport, and use of hydrogen. It is also an initiative of the CGA itself, which has been a global leader in hydrogen safety for more than 70 years and has a wealth of available standards, position statements and guidelines on its Hydrogen Standards Map.
In addition to this existing library of hydrogen standards, the CGA is bringing its unique expertise in hydrogen safety to the development of new informational videos about hydrogen safety, the latest of which it has shared here with gasworld.
This new video from the Safe Hydrogen Project covers the basics of storing and transporting hydrogen – an area of the value chain that will become so mission-critical to the roll-out and adoption of hydrogen across industry and society the world over.
Extensive resources available
The video draws upon the extensive insights and experience of the CGA – its members have long been global leaders in the production, storage, distribution, and application of hydrogen and other industrial gases – and not only covers storage and transportation, but also hydrogen basics and more about safety resources provided by the Safe Hydrogen Project.
gasworld understands, for example, that information can be accessed on specific areas themselves such as storage or delivery, as well as the basics around hydrogen, its characteristics and safety.
Further still, with hydrogen having such a wide flammability range and a very low ignition energy, the CGA has issued a guidance video on vent stacks and hydrogen safety, which it has again shared with gasworld here.
Any release of hydrogen to the atmosphere may ignite, and this comprehensive video helps users to learn how to avoid this potential hazard.
Venting could also be a concern when it comes to canopies and refuelling systems. The CGA points out that hydrogen is 14 times lighter than air and rapidly rises – without a properly designed canopy and venting system, hydrogen could collect, ignite and explode. Canopies over hydrogen systems must therefore prevent the accumulation of hydrogen and include a properly designed hydrogen vent system.
This is another key consideration for such a burgeoning clean energy space and the CGA – alongside others and industry itself – is very clear that in its messaging that we need to ensure safety standards are in place to make it safe for everyday use before hydrogen can become a commonly used renewable energy source.
This is further exemplified and explained in another new CGA video tackling roofs over hydrogen (below).
All of these videos, as well as the full library of important safety resources and guidance can be found online, for free, at https://safehydrogenproject.org/hydrogen-resources/. Alternatively, fill in the form below to enquire more information from CGA.
About the Compressed Gas Association
The CGA’s mission is to promote ever-improving safe, secure, and environmentally responsible manufacture, transportation, storage, transfilling, and disposal of industrial, medical, and food gases and their containers.
More than 140 companies worldwide are members of CGA, from multinational corporations to family-owned businesses. These companies represent all facets of the industry: manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and transporters of gases, cryogenic liquids, and related products.
When it comes to hydrogen, the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) has been developing related standards for more than half a century – it published its first hydrogen safety standard in 1955.
The standards it develops are incorporated by regulators, industrial engineers, designers, and zoning bodies at the federal, state, and provincial level. The association is ANSI accredited and has long worked with ISO and the UN to create model regulations and harmonise standards across borders in this increasingly connected world.
