4 ms·

What's the main safety concern for hydrogen?

• paranoidrobot 5y ago
  As others have mentioned here, it is difficult to keep contained, and because it's not very dense at room temperature/low pressures. So the example FTA given is cryogenic cooling. Because of the extreme cold, this can lead to new failure modes for materials. The other issue is that hydrogen when it burns has a very pale blue flame that can be difficult to impossible to see during daylight. It also apparently has a low radiant heat, which makes it difficult to feel from a distance. This makes firefighting and safety a major concern. The first you might know of a hydrogen fire, is that you're suddenly on fire yourself.
• ncmncm 5y ago
  In confined spaces, mixed with air within a range of concentrations, it is explosive. So, hydrogen systems will need continuous positive airflow around them so that the partial pressure of any leaked hydrogen is kept at all times well below the point of ignitability. You start with the assumption that hydrogen will be leaking everywhere (because it does) and design so that it doesn't matter.