Safety rules and regulations [ Return towards  Preparing tomorrow  ]

Like all fuels, hydrogen is inflammable. It also has other intrinsic characteristics connected to its conditions of storage under pressure: these particular risks must be managed in a specific way.

Managing the risks connected to hydrogen use by the general public means first of all evaluating them. Air Liquide is taking part in the HYPE project, the objective being to observe the behavior of hydrogen tanks subject to high temperatures. In the Group’s research centers, Air Liquide engineers are also testing the resistance of the tanks and many parts under extreme conditions of pressure up to 2000 bars, the equivalent of three times the utilization pressure.

Hydrogen is a molecule with industrial uses and the Air Liquide experts manage the risks connected to its production, distribution and applications, activities that follow regulations that have been in force for several years. At the moment when a new regulation that will frame the use of hydrogen by the general public is being developed, Air Liquide’s expertise will be a major asset.

Without waiting for this new utilization framework, manufacturers like Air Liquide are innovating on technologies that will enable hydrogen to be used in complete safety. For example, the Group’s researchers have developed a technology that directly incorporates, in the cylinder, all the devices for using the gas (regulators, level measurement, etc.). This innovation permits all the users to connect and disconnect hydrogen cylinders in complete safety.