Safety and monitoring: Non-negotiable priorities in green hydrogen production
Diana Aoun | January 12, 2025With the acceleration of the clean energy revolution, hydrogen has emerged as a key component of the global transition toward sustainable energy. Understanding the complex nature of green hydrogen production and storage systems is essential to ensuring the effective management of these systems.
Requirements that are essential for effective hydrogen production operations include the implementation of comprehensive safety protocols, utilization of effective sampling and monitoring systems, and the selection of suitable materials. These requirements are critical to ensuring the purity of hydrogen, maintaining equipment and personnel safety during production and storage, and optimizing processes to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Source: Ajmeer/Adobe Stock
Green hydrogen and its applications
Hydrogen is a clean energy carrier produced through electrolysis to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. Using renewable energy such as wind and solar to power electrolysis generates no greenhouse gas emissions during production or use. Green hydrogen is increasingly being used across various sectors to support the transition to cleaner energy.
Green hydrogen plays an important role in decarbonizing industries such as steel production, ammonia and methanol synthesis, and cement manufacturing, where it replaces fossil fuels in high-temperature processes. Green hydrogen is also emerging strongly in the transport industry, particularly in long-haul freight, buses, trains and even aviation, through fuel cell electric vehicles. In addition, it serves as a flexible energy source for power generation, large-scale energy storage and the production of synthetic fuels.
The production of green hydrogen, however, faces challenges in cost, energy efficiency and infrastructure. Electrolysis requires significant renewable electricity, making production expensive. Storage is also complex, as hydrogen has low energy density, needing high-pressure tanks, cryogenic cooling, or chemical carriers, which are costly and energy intensive.
In order to enable green hydrogen to scale effectively as a clean energy solution, operators must therefore prioritize process safety, maintain hydrogen purity – which is essential for green hydrogen applications – and ensure efficient system operation. This requires continuous and effective monitoring and analysis to verify the quality of hydrogen and other gases in production, storage and distribution, ensuring they meet cleanliness and composition standards, whilst also ensuring the efficiency and reliability of operations.
First and foremost: Safety
Safety in hydrogen systems depends on rigorous standards, advanced technologies, and process-specific protocols to minimize risks, protect infrastructure and ensure safe operations.
Some of the key safety protocols and technologies in hydrogen systems include leak detection sensors, explosion-proof equipment, proper ventilation and overpressure protection devices. These measures prevent leaks and manage hydrogen’s flammability and low ignition energy. Hydrogen-compatible materials and cryogenic storage systems are technologies that enhance safety during transport and storage.
Key industry standards around safety in hydrogen production include:
1. The NFPA 2 (Hydrogen Technologies Code) — sets out comprehensive safety requirements for hydrogen production, storage, and use
2. ASME — has developed several standards for hydrogen production, storage, and distribution to ensure safety, reliability, and consistency across the hydrogen value chain
3. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations — DOT enforces various safety regulations for the transport of hydrogen to ensure public safety and environmental protection.
Monitoring and analysis: A must
The operational efficiency of hydrogen systems is contingent upon continuous monitoring and proactive sampling. Regular checks enable the early detection of contamination, composition irregularities, and other potential issues that can affect smooth plant operation. This approach not only enhances safety but also ensures that resources are optimized, downtime is minimized, and overall system performance is improved.
Leveraging advanced monitoring systems
Hydrogen's flammable, colorless and odorless characteristics make fast leak detection critical for maintaining operational safety. To effectively manage this risk, it is important to utilize advanced leak detection and monitoring systems that leverage modern technologies to ensure quick responses to potential leaks.
Advanced gas detectors combined with tools like Sentry IT controllers and internet of things gateways, enable real-time notifications and cloud integration. These systems use advanced sensing algorithms, web-based interfaces, and cloud connectivity to send real-time alerts via text or email, providing immediate warnings of hazardous conditions. Furthermore, they can detect multiple gases, such as hydrogen, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, with customizable alarms to suit specific operational requirements.
These systems also offer adherence to fire safety regulations, helping to effectively mitigate hazards associated with hydrogen’s unique characteristics, and ensure safer, more efficient operational performance.
Mass spectrometry
Mass spectrometry (MS) is another essential tool in green hydrogen production, ensuring purity and verifying environmental credentials. Specifically, MS can detect the ratio of isotopes such as deuterium to hydrogen, which helps confirm whether the hydrogen was produced using renewable sources (e.g. through water electrolysis powered by renewable energy). MS also offers high sensitivity and accuracy and can detect trace impurities like carbon dioxide and methane. It can optimize production processes with real-time analysis enabling immediate adjustments and continuous monitoring to enhance process control.
Material considerations: Tackling hydrogen embrittlement
Hydrogen embrittlement is a critical issue in hydrogen systems, affecting both production and sampling equipment. This phenomenon can occur in any system or component that is exposed to hydrogen, including pipelines, storage tanks, valves, and fittings, in addition to sampling systems. It is a concern in any application where hydrogen is present, particularly under high pressure.
Although hydrogen embrittlement itself does not directly alter gas composition, it can cause material failures in equipment, leading to leaks or contamination. These failures can then impact the composition of hydrogen or other gases within the system.
With regards to hydrogen sampling systems, any breaches can introduce impurities or alter the gas composition, resulting in inaccurate readings. To minimize these risks, regular monitoring and maintenance of the equipment are essential.
Using materials resistant to hydrogen embrittlement, such as high-strength alloys, particularly stainless steel with at least 12% nickel content, helps improve system integrity and ensures the reliability of both sampling processes and gas monitoring.
Conclusion
Effective management of hydrogen production systems in the clean energy sector requires careful material selection, robust safety protocols, and efficient operational practices. Prioritizing safety, utilizing the right materials, and embracing advanced systems for continuous and accurate monitoring, can help operators optimize performance, minimize risks, and ultimately, contribute to a sustainable energy future.