It would be great to see a direct study comparing BEV safety with hydrogen fueled vehicles, once both technologies have had a chance to mature. Your email address will not be published. Most importantly, they do not provide a chemical formula for Metrol®. Since this is the case, if hydrogen happens to be produced via a renewable energy method (e.g. The resulting fireball quickly dissipated because of the rapid flame speed of hydrogen and its low density. In some cases, what makes hydrogen different from those hydrocarbon fuels actually leads to it having greater safety benefits over gasoline and natural gas. Stan the Energy Man Kailua, Hawaii. I’ve often wondered why everyone has such an ingrained fear of hydrogen. You will often hear the cry, “What will happen if the hydrogen fuel cell is ruptured in a crash?”  That is a good question. In order to create the catastrophic “hydrogen bomb” explosion, both Tritium and extreme heat of 100+ million degrees created from the detonation of a nuclear fission bomb, are required. Now you might say “what about the source of the electricity”? The report identifies one direct comparison between hydrogen and conventional gasoline vehicles conducted by the US Department of Energy. We work with hydrogen every day in the lab. Thanks for helping “un-spook” the herd!!! The reality is that, although not an energy source in itself, hydrogen is an excellent energy carrier. A much more dangerous … I believe therefore, that the studies’ findings can be equally applied to hydrogen powered vehicles. When the hydrogen can was ruptured and ignited, the flame quickly dissipated, but when the same thing was done with gasoline, the gasoline and flame stayed near the container and did much more damage. In 61 attempts, only two explosions occurred and in both, they had to mix oxygen with the hydrogen. Even the pros get caught in tough spots from time to time. You can put your worries to rest because today’s hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles, such as Toyota’s Mirai and Hyundai’s NEXO, have been put through crash tests and have passed these tests with top honors. Of course, this doesn’t mean that it can’t be dangerous, but any fuel can be hazardous under the right circumstances, which is why all fuels should be handled with care, hydrogen included. It’s well written but unfortunately incomplete. For whatever reason, perhaps to remove all doubt, the Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) decided to reproduce Kelly’s experiment in the early 1980’s at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Seagrave Grange Still worried? Perhaps it’s simple familiarity, but people are generally comfortable with gasoline—even though it’s far more flammable and dangerous than hydrogen. SolarBotanic Ltd, Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and keep up with the latest news in hydrogen transportation, research, storage, resources and more. If hearing or seeing the word “hydrogen” (H2) leaves you quaking in your boots, you might be wondering why many of the world’s scientists, governments and industry leaders are pushing for the research and development of this “dangerous” technology. At the time, however, Johnson and Rich filmed their fire and explosion experiments to convince doubters.”, WSU’s Hydrogen and ElectroFuels Researchers, https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4404/ch8-6.htm, Kelly Johnson as project lead (yes that fabled Johnson that started Skunkworks and led the design of the SR-71 Blackbird, The National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration has a comprehensive report on the hydrogen safety studies for vehicles, Read about our near-miss hydrogen leak event sometime, Social Thermodynamics: Sophistication versus Evolution, School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering. As the director of liquid hydrogen safety at AirProducts, David Farese, is fond to say, “Nobody has ever been killed by a liquid hydrogen spill.”. This will increase the risk of it catching fire. A final concern about hydrogen is that it is an emerging technology that you are probably unfamiliar with. As one life-long hydrogen expert said to me once, “Hydrogen is no better, nor worse, than any other fuel. There are currently over 25,000 hydrogen fuel cell powered forklifts operating around the world in shipping fulfillment centers the likes of Amazon, Walmart, FedEx, and more. You can put your worries to rest because today’s hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles, such as Toyota’s Mirai and Hyundai’s NEXO, have been put through crash tests and have passed these tests with top honors. For this reason, it is imperative that appropriate materials are selected to design safe hydrogen systems. Topping the list of concerns is hydrogen burns. Hydrogen powered cars surpass standard mandated crash tests with flying colors. Background and Context Hydrogen is back on the agenda in the UK. Loughborough LE12 7BG It is dangerous for about 2 minutes after the rupture. The results have been confirmed after nearly 50 years of practice. Most flammable or explosive gases are only explosive in a limited range of concentrations. Lovins also references a videotaped demonstration that compares a hydrogen car fire with a gasoline car fire. Get your answers by asking now. A better direction to look at in butanol as a fuel source. In fact, it is safer.

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