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Hydrogen emergency response

Hydrogen emergency response

EU projects reveal need for new safety measures

The results of the European Union’s HyResponder and HyTunnel-CS projects have been awaited with great anticipation. Numerous experts from industry, the fire service and research institutes been involved in these initiatives over the past few years, tasked with tackling the issue of fires and accidents connected with hydrogen applications. Now the International Fire Academy, the IFA, writes: “Hydrogen vehicles in tunnels: great danger for emergency response personnel.”

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The publication of Germany’s national hydrogen strategy saw the German government set out a framework for action for the future production, transport, use and reutilization of hydrogen and related innovations. Hydrogen can make a significant contribution to mitigating climate change – as a fuel for cars, a feedstock for industry or a fuel for heating systems. A multifaceted energy carrier, it can be applied across all sectors and therefore has a key role to play in the energy transition.

In power-to-gas plants, a carbon-neutral process is employed to produce green hydrogen using renewable energy, allowing this energy to be stored effectively in the gas grid and carried onward. Hence its proponents are suitably upbeat about the technology.

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However, hydrogen is – as a quick glance at the safety data sheet will tell you – a highly flammable gas and one which is now being stored and transported with increasing frequency and in ever-larger quantities. This poses a challenge for fire services and public authorities when handling approvals procedures and inevitably when responding to emergency situations, as the following call-out examples show:

  • Truck catches fire at a hydrogen refueling station
  • Two persons seriously injured following a hydrogen tank explosion
  • Hydrogen refueling station exploded
  • Difficult salvage operation – accident with “hydrogen vehicle”

Fire services are well used to dealing with traditional fuels such as gasoline and diesel on their rescue missions. Alternative fuels like liquefied natural gas, better known as LNG, or hydrogen have so far played only a very minor role, which is why emergency crews have fairly limited experience of them.

Now the energy transition is starting to gain momentum. Due to the conflict in Ukraine, the demand for LNG and hydrogen has risen sharply. In addition, natural gas grids are expected to convey hydrogen in the future, initially in blended form. A great deal of technical research and regulation will be needed to make it possible, and is currently being agreed and established in various committees.

This requires appropriate resources to be made available to public authorities and emergency organizations in order to handle the arrangements, train up staff and ensure the provision of special firefighting equipment.

We have observed that there are already established hydrogen applications for which fire crews often do not yet have the appropriate skills to carry out an emergency response.

HyResponder and HyTunnel-CS projects

In the past few years, the EU’s HyResponder project has developed a European Emergency Response Guide which is currently being presented at a country level. In Germany, an event took place in Oldenburg at the end of May 2023 in order to communicate the proposed hydrogen emergency responses to German firefighting experts. The same event was held in Austria in April.

The most important outcome from the European HyTunnel-CS research project, to which the IFA contributed its views from a fire service perspective, is: “Firefighters can protect themselves against smoke, heat and fire spurts, but not against the blast waves from explosions of hydrogen vehicles in tunnels. Therefore, it is vital to keep a safe distance. However, how can people be saved and fires be fought effectively? There is still no satisfactory answer to this question – although more and more hydrogen-powered vehicles are being registered. That is why the fire services need to work on suitable solutions immediately.”

Alongside recommendations from the research projects, there are other national and international means of support for emergency services, for instance ISO 17840 – the first global standard for firefighters. Knowing how the energy is stored on board a vehicle can mean the difference between a successful rescue and a possibly unexpected explosion, gas leak, shooting flame or a fatal electric shock.

           

Several hundred thousand users have downloaded the Euro Rescue app. It offers access to 1,400 vehicle rescue sheets in four languages. The international association of fire and rescue services CTIF is pushing its distribution and takeup.

Nevertheless, this presupposes that rescue teams are able to identify the type of vehicle. In cases of fires occurring in tunnels or underground parking lots, this is difficult to accomplish. It is this particular circumstance the IFA was referring to in the earlier quotation. This is because fire crews would proceed as usual and then suddenly happen upon a fuel cell vehicle. Even if the correct rescue data sheet is found, the information about the necessary safety distances for emergency crews in the event of a hydrogen vehicle fire can be best described as “leaving room for improvement.”

When dealing with fires and accidents, the overall scenario always has to be considered. This must include the area surrounding the rescue site and account needs to be taken of this in response planning. A fuel cell bus, for example, could be on fire at night in the parking lot because it is parked next to another burning vehicle. The hydrogen bus is not the cause here, yet it does make the scenario much more serious. Two basic situations need to be contemplated: One in which hydrogen equipment (hydrogen bus, hydrogen car) is itself the cause and the other, much more likely case where hydrogen equipment will be affected by an external event. It is essential that the approvals procedure takes both variations into consideration.

Artificial intelligence has great potential

On the other hand, new digital applications, particularly artificial intelligence or AI, are offering up possibilities for rapid information gathering in the future which could support the emergency response. The long times taken by public authorities to process approvals have come under much criticism. Policymakers are promising to speed up procedures significantly in this respect. Here too, AI can come into play and save a lot of time.

In particular, a suitable AI module can allow the fire service to quickly analyze the documents received and check plausibility. Robots and drones – with AI – can bring decisive benefits for emergency responses in explosive ranges. For example, a robot can scan an underground parking lot. Especially relevant here is the ability to identify fuel cell vehicles in underground parking lots and tunnel systems without endangering emergency crews.

One solution would be to fit vehicles that run on alternative fuels with a chip so that robots or drones are able to identify the vehicles more quickly. Measurement technology on the robot could also be used to detect leaking hydrogen.

Explosive situations cannot be practiced in real life which is why training using virtual reality or augmented reality techniques lends itself to this purpose. As Figure 3 shows, useful training for incident commanders can be carried out with regular free-of-charge programs.

Balancing act

If the fire service needs training and special resources, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the hydrogen technology is faulty or susceptible. It is the new scenarios, such as a multi-vehicle accident in a tunnel involving a hydrogen truck or bus, that are significantly increasing the risk for responders.

This is all “politically controversial” in terms of getting action, since the desired message is that hydrogen is virtually problem-free. Financial support for emergency response is “not likely” to be provided. Emergency service organizations are increasingly confronted with a variety of new technologies and fuels. Many different fuels are being used in parallel during the transitional phase. For those working in fire and hazard prevention and in incident planning, this often means they come across new situations and are learning by doing. Not only does workplace health and safety need to be ensured for staff at hydrogen refueling stations and tanker drivers but equally so for emergency crews as part of a risk assessment.

How much extra training do we want to provide our fire service members? At the moment there are still no special training facilities in Germany. The German interior minister warns of “attacks” on energy infrastructure, and violent action by activists also needs to be taken into consideration. This requires incident planning by fire services. Alternative forms of energy are “closely” linked to this: In terms of emergency response, it makes sense to exploit synergies, for example by including LNG and CNG in hydrogen training courses.

Reference(s)

  • mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/chemnitz/zwickau/brand-tankstelle-lkw-zapfsaeule-meerane-100.html
  • kleinezeitung.at/oesterreich/5779092/Niederoesterreich_Zwei-Schwerverletzte-nach-WasserstofftankExplosion
  • heise.de/autos/artikel/Wasserstofftankstelle-in-Norwegen-explodiert-4445144.html
  • noen.at/moedling/schwierige-bergung-unfall-mit-wasserstoff-fahrzeug-gumpoldskirchen-wasserstoff-bergung-133570154
  • ifa-swiss.ch/magazin/detail/wasserstoff-fahrzeuge-in-tunneln-grosse-gefahr-fuer-einsatzkraefte
  • ISO 17840: The First Worldwide Firefighters’ Standard | CTIF – International Association of Fire Services for Safer Citizens through Skilled Firefighters
  • Petter, F.: First on site: Decision-making training for incident commanders in vehicle fires, internal study, unpublished
  • 200,000 users have downloaded the Euro Rescue app – access to 1400 vehicle Rescue Sheets in 4 languages | CTIF – International Association of Fire Services for Safer Citizens through Skilled Firefighters

Author: Franz Petter, Chief Fire Officer, Hamburg, Germany, FranzPetter@aol.com

TH2ECO showing the future hydrogen market

TH2ECO showing the future hydrogen market

Largest H2 ecosystem will appear in Thüringen

In the heart of Thüringen – around Erfurt and the northern part of Thüringer Becken – is where TH2ECO is situating the regional hydrogen market currently in establishment. A partnership consortium of regional specialists has been developing this project since 2021. The partners from different renewable energy fields are grid operators as well as energy and power suppliers who are driving forward the building and expansion of a sustainable H2 infrastructure and the establishment of the new energy carrier hydrogen. With it from the start has been Kilian Fromm, project manager at Green Wind Innovation, to whom German economy minister Robert Habeck handed the H2Eco Award for this project during this year’s Hannover Messe.

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TH2ECO aims to create a regional hydrogen market that demonstrates how the complex system of a market with various economic, technical and regulatory requirements over the complete value chain –from green H2 production to its use – can work for the region and how the local value creation can be integrated in a supraregional market in the long term.

TH2ECO is committed to three core objectives: decarbonization, regionality and sustainability. Through ramp up of a low-carbon economy, CO2 emissions in Thüringen will be significantly reduced. With a grid-serving integration into existing grids, already existing structures in the region will be integrated.

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From production to use

Cooperating in the partnership and in coordinated project direction are, at this time, three energy providers (Green Wind Innovation, Boreas Energie, TEAG Thüringer Energie AG), three gas network operators (Ferngas Netzgesellschaft, SWE Netz, TEN Thüringer Energienetze) and a gas storage operator (TEP Thüringer Energie Speichergesellschaft) as well as several customers. The main areas for use of the H2 are transportation, the centralized heat generation as part of the district heat supply for Erfurt (SWE Energie) and in the industrial sector:

  • Transport: At freight village Güterverkehrszentrum (GVZ) Erfurt Ost with a refueling station for commercial vehicles from Jet H2 Energy as well as intralogistics applications and use in rail transport
  • Industry: businesses in industrial park Erfurter Kreuz
  • Heating: GuD-Heizkraftwerk of Stadtwerke Erfurt (SWE) for heat and power generation; blending in the natural gas distribution networks

Phase 1: Gas pipeline already under conversion

TH2ECO is divided into three phases, which illustrate the building stages of the emerging hydrogen market. In the initial phase up to 2025, it is planned that three electrolysis plants with a combined capacity of 25 MW go into operation in Thüringer Becken. The H2 transport is primarily being carried out via the existing 42-km natural gas pipeline currently under repurposing for 100 percent green hydrogen. In the city of Erfurt, SWE Netz is providing further supply via H2 lines.

GuD-Heizkraftwerk in Erfurt, the industrial park in Erfurter Kreuz and the local natural gas grid of municipality Kirchheilingen will consequently be connected via this pipeline. The natural gas rock reservoirs in Kirchheilingen will be unidirectionally integrated, which has already been investigated for H2 use and the feasibility was confirmed. Also the GVZ in Erfurt will already be supplied in the initial phase by the second quarter of 2025, where since the new gas grid connection is yet to be built, delivery is initially to take place via high-pressure trailers.

Phase 2: Expansion to 40 MW generation capacity

In the second phase, to expand the regional H2 market that has emerged, an expansion of generation capacities to 40 MW is envisaged during ramp up of the German hydrogen market. The H2 supply network is to be expanded, for which the gas distribution network of provider TEN Thüringer Energienetze will be connected and the H2 storage used bidirectionally. On the consumption side, Erfurter Gasnetz will be linked in and line connection to the GVZ will occur. Use of H2 in the GuD-Heizkraftwerk will be heightened and rail transport structures incorporated.

Phase 3: Supraregional integration

Subsequently, the project TH2ECO will be scaled further through the uptake of additional regional H2 generation and H2 importing from other regions. The network will be integrated into the supraregional H2 backbone, so supply to large industrial operations is guaranteed and each of the municipal utilities can achieve climate neutrality.

Exemplary for Germany

A high degree of innovation has been shown with TH2ECO already in the initial phase: Due to the potent network across the generation and consumption sides, market structures are emerging on both sides of the value chain that differentiate TH2ECO from other projects.

With three H2 producers and various consumers in different industries, a variety of new questions arise, which are approached in an exemplary manner in the TH2ECO project, thus constituting a blueprint for the German H2 market:

  • How will practical contract structures between H2 producers and consumers establish? Are there bilateral contract structures or are there central H2 vendors that bundle capacities on the generation side and distribute them among the customers?
  • How will energy surpluses be handled in the market? Who is responsible for curtailing and balancing energy quantities?
  • High H2 purities (5.0, or ≥999%) at withdrawal cannot be guaranteed in a converted pipeline. How can an efficient mechanism be found here?
  • In the heating or industrial sector, there are different regulatory frameworks than in transportation (THG-Quote credit systems). How can the different incentives be reconciled in one market?

Modularly constructed electrolysis units

Through joint planning and close coordination in the consortium, reliable and functioning structures will be created that reduce the risk for all project undertakers and enables a simultaneous ramp up of H2 supply and demand.

The H2 producer ensures economic H2 production in the initial phase through the intelligent combination of energy from their own wind and PV ground-mounted systems that supply the electrolyzers with CO2-free energy. Having their own RE plants guarantees that the H2 producers have available a long-term, plannable supply of electricity with fixed prices.

A modular design and the flexible plant structure composed of several containerized MW electrolysis units will make adapting to the physical and legal requirements of hydrogen for different supply strings in the TH2ECO project at an electrolysis site possible. In this way, from the start, filling a high-pressure trailer with 5.0 purity green hydrogen as defined in EU directive REDII and eventually feeding CO2-free green hydrogen at 30 bar into the H2 grid can occur. Synergies of H2 demand and different revenue streams are thus used in a way that enables efficient cash intakes in the different areas of use.

H2Eco Award for TH2ECO

During Hannover Messe, TH2ECO and namely Green Wind Innovation was distinguished with the H2Eco Award – a distinction by the DWV (German hydrogen and fuel cell association) and Deutsche Messe for companies whose projects make an outstanding contribution to the ramp-up of the hydrogen economy. In the project TH2ECO, where it is a consortium member, Green Wind Innovation is responsible for the set-up of a modular 10-MW electrolysis plant. According to the assessment by the jury of notable figures, the project distinguishes itself through a special system technological, national economic contribution to climate protection and CO2 reduction.

TH2ECO MOBILITY is a HyPerformer

In the area of transportation, the planned refueling station in GVZ Erfurt will make higher revenue potentials with hydrogen possible. Recently, the subproject TH2ECO MOBILITY, led by consultancy EurA Innovationsberatung, was named a HyPerformer 2023 by the German transport ministry. To realize the development of an H2 mobility hub in the GVZ, 15 million euros of federal funding has been allocated.

In the area of industry, with a suitably coordinated H2 product, a CO2-free energy source will be created, which can also be used as a chemical starting material. For the centralized heating of Stadtwerke Erfurt, a CO2-free heating product will be available in the market.

Security of supply increasing

With TH2ECO, an H2 ecosystem is being created that uses the potentials of cheap renewable energies from wind and PV plants and incorporates the fluctuation of energy sources through the buffer and storage capabilities of an H2 pipeline. In this way, the constant demand from industry, daily fluctuating demand from transportation, and seasonally fluctuating demand in the heating sector can be brought together with renewable energy from regional sources.

In the combined heat-and-power station of Stadtwerke Erfurt, hydrogen is to be used to generate grid heat. About 40 percent of the residents of Erfurt can proportionately and directly benefit from this. Furthermore, by blending H2 in sections of the existing natural gas grid, households in these microgrids will be supplied with green hydrogen.

In the medium term, one of the largest economic centers of Thüringen, that is industrial park Erfurter Kreuz, as well as the rail transport systems will be incorporated. The planned connection starting 2030 to the German and European Hydrogen Backbone (EHB) will support the commercial prospects beyond the borders of Thüringen and Germany in the long term. In this way, the commerce of locations Germany and particularly Thüringen will be strengthened by the TH2ECO project.

Project development of the electrolysis station

Could you illustrate what the project development of the electrolyzers was like?

Fromm: During the realization of the electrolysis plant from Green Wind, the local community was actively involved early on through a presentation for the Bürgermeister in the town hall, in a building committee and in town council meetings. Like with the installation of wind energy in Thüringen, we are convinced that a fair involvement of the community in the projects is necessary. Additionally, consultation with critical stakeholders like regional water providers was done in order to ensure an environmentally considerate water supply.

What advantages are there at the electrolysis location?

Our approach is to use the complete feed-in energy of the electrolysis plant. Therefore, in addition to the generation of green hydrogen, the decoupling of local heat on site at the electrolysis plant is planned. A helpful potential, since its operation generates low-cost waste heat that – when locally used – is a helpful building block in the clean heating transition of the community, for example as part of a low-temperature heating grid.

Are there advantages on site beyond the waste heat?

Yes, definitely: We envisage that there will be an opportunity to visit at the electrolysis site, so it will become a place for knowledge expansion and learning. By being present locally, we want to develop a practical example that can be experienced and that gives the important topics of energy transition and sector coupling the visibility they deserve.

Author: Kilian Fromm, Green Wind Innovation, Berlin

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Dr. Johannes F. Kirchhoff at Enginius – with the CityPower in the background

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Weichai Power – a turning point

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