Risk Management Approaches to the Japanese Regulations of Hydrogen Supply Stations

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Risk Management Approaches to the Japanese
Regulations of Hydrogen Supply Stations
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON HYDROGEN
SAFETY Second Plenary Risk Management Approaches
to Hydrogen Safety, Regulations, Codes, and
Standards (RCS)

• September 12, 2007
• Japan Petroleum Energy Center (JPEC)
• Hydrogen Technology Group
• Shigeki Kikukawa

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First Glance

• In this section
• Introduction
• Risk Assessment Approaches to Hydrogen Supply
  Stations
• Overview of the new combined gasoline/hydrogen
  supply station
• Future issues
• Summaries

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1. Introduction

• Japanese government positively promotes
  widespread use of fuel cells.
• They address a wide variety of technologies from
  the basic study about FC to the demonstrations of
  automotive FC and stationary FC system.

Stationary FC System
206 million Euro
Safety evaluation facilities for FCV
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The society using hydrogen energy
RD of Hydrogen and FC
Harmonize
Codes Standards
Demonstration
International CS
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Establishment of Codes Standards for the
society using hydrogen energy

• Code standard review projects in Japan
• FCV Japan Automobile Research Institute
• Stationary FC System Japan Gas Association
• Hydrogen supply stations Japan Petroleum
  Energy Center
• Aim to collect data necessary to review the
  codes and standards, and to establish test
  methods.
• Budget 2.6 billion Yen (16 million euro) for
  2007 from New Energy and Industrial Technology
  Development Organization (NEDO).

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2. Risk Assessment Approaches to Hydrogen
Supply Stations
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Hydrogen supply stations
Reformer
FCV
Overview
On-site type
Compressor
Accumulator
Dispenser
Trailer
Off-site type
Tanker truck
LH2 tank, Evaporator
LH2 dispenser
Liquid hydrogen type
FCV (LH2)
IWATANI, JHFC HP
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Key Issue Setback Distance
To establish safety hydrogen stations in an urban
area
We had to review the High Pressure Gas Safety Law.
Setback distance for general high pressured
equipment
17m Hospital, school, etc.
11.3m Dwellings
8m Fire sources
Hydrogen stations must be FREE from DANGER!
H2
6m
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Review of the High Pressure Gas Safety Law

• Traditional ways
• Accumulation of safety related results
• Negotiations with relevant authorities
• Review of laws by empirical rules
• In this case
• Needs about review of laws are increased to
  spread hydrogen supply stations.
• Data about safety of hydrogen supply stations is
  insufficient.
• The risk is not zero (0).
• Risk Assessment approach
• Becoming popular and there is a lot of proof
  based on the past experiences
• ISO/IEC Guide 51
• There have been no examples to review the law
  using the risk assessment. So it is epoch-making.

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Risk Assessment Approach
START
Experiments, Simulations,Surveys, etc. by
Project Partners
Definition of H2 station model
Hazard Identification
Risk Estimation
Risk Reduction
Risk Evaluation
N
Output of the study Safety requirements for
H2 stations
Y
END
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Definition of the Hydrogen Station model

• To undertake risk assessments, we designed a
  detailed model of the hydrogen station.
• We decided on a design that could actually be
  built and that would be widely used in the future
  after several years.
• On-site type Hydrogen station
• H2 Demand 300Nm3/hr (30Nm3/vehicle
  10vehicles/hr)
• H2 Generation 300Nm3/hr
• Compressor 300Nm3/hr, 40MPa
• H2 Cylinders 250L 14 3500L (40MPa,
  1400Nm3)
• Dispenser 35MPa (supply pressure)

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Hazard Identification

• Applied Methods
• HAZOP (Hazard and Operability Studies)
• FMEA (Failure Mode and Effects Analysis)
• 233 accident scenarios were identified for the
  on-site type H2 station model
• Failure and deterioration
• Human Error
• Natural Disasters

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Risk Matrix (Risk Acceptance Criteria)
Likelihood Likelihood Likelihood Likelihood
Consequence severity Consequence severity A Improbable B Remote C Occasional D Probable
1 Extremely Severe Damage H H H H
2 Severe Damage M H H H
3 Damage M M H H
4 Small Damage L L M H
5 Minor Damage L L L M
H (High)Risk is not acceptable. Remedial actions
should be considered to reduce risk to an
acceptable level.
M (Medium)In principle, risk is not acceptable.
It can be accepted only when risk reduction
cannot be achieved by reasonably
practical action
L (Low)Acceptable. Further risk reduction is not
necessarily required.
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Likelihood Levels
Level Description Definition
A Improbable Possible, but the probability is extremely low. About once in several thousand years or less.
B Remote Unlikely to occur in the lifetime of one H2 station. About once in several hundred years.
C Occasional Likely to occur once in the lifetime of one H2 station. About once in several decades.
D Probable Likely to occur several times in the lifetime of one H2 station. About once in several years or more.
Likelihood Estimation

• Qualitative Evaluation
• Based on engineering judgment
• Not enough data available for quantitative
  evaluation

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Consequence Levels
Level Description Material Damage Human Damage
1 Extremely Severe Damage Collapse of nearby houses One or more fatalities of pedestrians or residents
2 Severe Damage Major damage to nearby houses One or more fatalities of customers or station workers
3 Damage Minor damage to nearby houses Injury requiring hospitalization
4 Small Damage Windows broken Injury requiring medical treatment
5 Minor Damage No damage to nearby houses Minor injury
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Experiments, Simulations and Surveys

• Basic data for likelihood and consequence
  estimation were provided by project partners.
• Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
• Japan Steel Works
• Tatsuno Corporation
• Japan Industrial Gas Association

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Large Scale Hydrogen Release Experiments
(40MPa,f10mm)
Release point
Hydrogen explosion experiment
Hydrogen release experiment (in snow)
????
????
Blow-out flame of Hydrogen with protection wall
Blow-out flame of Hydrogen
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Blow-out Flame of Hydrogen per hole diameter
(40MPa)
Hole diameter
0.32mmf
0.53mmf
1.17mmf
2mmf
Note The temperature region higher than 1,100?
is made visible with an NaCl solution mist.
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Dispenser

• Durability Tests for
• Filling hose Joint
• Hand valve
• Breakaway device
• Etc.

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Compressor

• Durability Tests
• Hydrogen leakage
• Noise Control
• Vibration
• Etc.

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Metal Material (Stainless Steel and Chromium
Molybdenum Steel)

• Tests for Hydrogen Embrittlement
• in a pressurized hydrogen environment are
  necessary.
• Tensile test
• Deep notch test
• Fracture toughness test
• Fatigue test
• Etc.

45MPa hydrogen test unit
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Reflection of risk assessment results on
regulations and standards
Points Social acceptability about safety Cost
effectiveness about safety Public
profits Consistency with conventional
regulations Example Gasoline stations
CNG stations Other pressure vessels
Risk Assessment Approach to Hydrogen supply
stations
90 safety measures
Regulation
Exemplification Standard
Voluntary Standard
The High Pressure Gas Safety Institute of Japan
(KHK)
Government
JPEC
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3. Overview of the new combined
gasoline/hydrogen supply station
P
We proposed new regulations for hydrogen supply
stations through the risk assessment. Then we
installed a hydrogen supply station in conformity
with the new regulations. This station is
intended to verify the safety of overall hydrogen
supply station. - Safety verification test
- Investigation of extension of inspection
frequency
A
D
Continual improvement
C
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Overview of the Facility
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Sequential flow of processes
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Major Safety measures(High Pressure Gas Safety
Law)
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H2 leak detector
Earthquake detector
Flame detector
A
R
A
C
T
A
A
P
Accumulator
Compressor
Tank
Reformer
PSA
Office
H2 Dispenser
Gasoline Dispenser
Road
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Emergency isolation valve
Excess flow valve
A
R
A
C
T
A
A
P
Accumulator
Compressor
Tank
Reformer
PSA
Office
H2 Dispenser
Gasoline Dispenser
Road
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Compressor

• Compressor should be placed in an enclosure.
• Ventilation with Interlock System

H2 Leak Detector
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H2 Leak Detector
Water Sprinkler
Flame Detector
Accumulator
Metal materials are limited to SUS316L or SCM435.
Emergency Isolation Valve, Check Valve
Pressure Indicator, Safety Valve
Frame Structure
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Excess flow valve
Closed (Emergency)
Open (Normal)
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Dispenser
Flame Detector
Breakaway Device
Emergency Stop Button
Pressure release after refueling
Piping in Trench
Guardrail
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4. Future Issues

• To widespread use of hydrogen supply stations
• We need to research and develop metal materials
  having less hydrogen embrittlement.
• We also need to reduce the costs of each unit,
  compressor, and accumulator used for hydrogen
  supply stations.
• Additionally, we must promote development of new
  units in parallel to review of regulations and
  standards.
• To extend the cruising range of FCV
• We need to verify the safety of the hydrogen
  supply stations applicable to 70MPa-charging.
• To achieve highly efficient hydrogen
  transportation and storage
• We need to utilize liquid hydrogen.
• We must research and develop utilization of
  metallic alloy for hydrogen storage or organic
  hydride.

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5. Summaries

• We used the risk assessment approach to review
  the High Pressure Gas Safety Law so as to make
  proposal drafts.
• Japanese government reviewed the regulations and
  standards based on our proposals. New regulations
  and standards have been in effect since March,
  2005.
• We installed a hydrogen supply station combined
  with the gasoline station that is in conformity
  with new regulations and standards. From this
  time onward, we will conduct the verification
  test of the safety.
• Presently, we are investigating safety measures
  for hydrogen gas supply station applicable to
  70MPa-charging.

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Thank you for your attention.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This study is a partial summary
of results obtained by JPEC as part of a study
into safety technology for a hydrogen supply
infrastructure. The study was commissioned by the
independent administrative organization New
Energy and Industrial Technology Development
Organization (NEDO) and conducted from 2003 to
2006.