May/June 2019

Communities: Industry
As Interest in Hydrogen Grows, Chemical Engineers Launch Center to Improve Safety

In April, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers launched a new Center for Hydrogen Safety that aims to bring together industry stakeholders, government, and consumers to identify and share techniques for the safe handling of hydrogen as a sustainable energy carrier.

The center will bring to together industry and scientific experts, publish educational materials, and provide a forum to allow input from around the world, according to Center Director Nick Barilo.

The use of hydrogen and fuel-cell technology is emerging for use in on-site power generation. Hydrogen fuel cells—once cumbersome and expensive—are now much smaller, more energy dense, and safer to handle.

AIChE reports that by 2050, the impact of moving hydrogen as a fuel could result in $2.5 trillion in annual revenue, create 30 million jobs, and prevent more than 6 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere.

Hydrogen is widely used commercially in electronics, metal fabrication, cosmetics, and in the food processing industry. Large retailers, like Amazon, are incorporating fuel-cell technology into warehouse equipment, like forklifts.

In the automobile industry, which is moving increasingly toward electric vehicles, the number of fuel cell cars has increased from 160 to 6,500 over the last three years, according to Barilo. In the coming years, he believes, laptop computers, cell phones, and other electronics will be powered by smaller, portable fuel cells.

The benefits of using hydrogen fuel cells in automobiles include the abundance of hydrogen, decreased vehicle emissions, and greater fuel economy. Hydrogen can also be produced using electricity from renewable sources such as wind, biomass, and solar.

The element’s volatility, however, means that it must be handled cautiously and differently than other fuels. Fuel cells also cannot compete economically with more traditional energy technologies because of the difficulties in storage, transfer, and distribution.

All these factors, Barilo says, make the center necessary. It will provide educational resources, safety guidelines, accredited first-responder training for firefighters and emergency-response teams, and a central location for those in the industry to share advice, disseminate information, and answer member questions.