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Hydrogen Equipment Separation Distances
by Karen Miller, National Hydrogen Association
The NHA was invited to make a presentation on Safety Siting of Commercial Hydrogen Facilities at the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Joint Propulsion Conference, held in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 7-10. The AIAA has been a longstanding supporter of the NHA’s efforts to develop codes and standards for the safe use of hydrogen energy systems. The presentation described the ongoing efforts of the International Code Council and the National Fire Protection Association to include hydrogen in their efforts. Current requirements for separation distances have come from a variety of sources, and are based on data developed for large-scale industrial uses, as well as from existing requirements for natural gas systems. These may be overly conservative for hydrogen energy systems in some cases. There is great interest in validating distances that are safe, yet are not so overly restrictive as to be cost prohibitive. To this end, the U.S. Department of Energy will work with experts from industry and academia in 2003 to validate separation distances used in the developing codes and standards, and to ensure requirements are consistent in various efforts.
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