2.4 HYDROGEN SAFETY PRINCIPLES
The most important safety principle in any situation is education—making anyone who will come into contact with a vehicle aware of a potential hazard. For hydrogen and other alternative-fueled vehicles, this is done with appropriate labeling, to let users, emergency responders and the public know that hydrogen is present.
As with other motor fuels, fire and explosion are the most significant everyday hazards associated with hydrogen. Also as with other fuels, a hydrogen leak from a vehicle’s fuel or engine system, or from a fueling station, provides the starting point for all fire and explosion hazards.
Safe design for using hydrogen therefore requires attention to these safety principles:
• Properly label all vehicles that use hydrogen fuel. Avoid fire and explosion by: Avoiding leaks through proper design and maintenance, Providing leak detection systems to detect leaks and, if a leak is detected, shut off the fuel system as soon as possible,
• Removing ignition sources from areas where leaked hydrogen might be present, and
• Properly ventilating all enclosed spaces where leaked hydrogen might accumulate.
These are essentially the same principles that apply to the use of any gaseous fuel (e.g., natural gas), but their application may be slightly different based on the properties of hydrogen. Each of these principles, as applied to hydrogen, is discussed further below.
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