Int. J. Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 5, pp. 579--584 Pergamon Press Ltd. 1980. Printed in Great Britain International Association for Hydrogen Energy

0360-3199/80/1101-0579 $02.00/0

HYDROGEN SAFETY: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF REGULATIONS, STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES

J. HORD

Thermophysical Properties Division, National Engineering Laboratory, National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, CO 80302, U.S.A.

(Received for publication 16 April 1980)

Abstract--Current federal regulations applicable to the manufacture and maintenance of hydrogen equipment and to the distribution of gaseous and liquid hydrogen in the United States are summarized and presented in a table of regulatory references. A similar table of references is presented for nonmandatory standards and guidelines pertinent to hydrogen safety and hydrogen facilities/equipment specifications. These two tables concisely summarize the best available information that has been published in industry, universities and government agencies for the safe production, storage and handling of hydrogen.

HYDROGEN gas has been produced in large quantities by the United States (U.S.) and other countries around the world for several decades. Large scale liquefaction of hydrogen commenced in the U.S. in the early fifties and consumption of hydrogen has steadily increased [1] through the years. Thus, industry has methodically demonstrated the capability to safely produce, store and handle gaseous and liquid hydrogen.

Personnel safety requires strict adherence to industrially accepted standards and guidelines and compliance with existing regulatory codes. The word "codes" is used sparingly herein because it refers to regulations (mandatory) and standards (nonmandatory or mandatory). Codes of regu- lations are mandatory and enforceable, but codes of standards are nonmandatory unless they are specified in the regulatory codes of regulatory authorities. Various interdisciplinary committees, with industrial, government and university representatives, have published guidelines for safe procedures to be followed throughout the various phases of producing and using hydrogen. Some of these publications have been accepted industry-wide as national standards and these standards are mandatory and enforceable when they are adopted by regulatory bodies such as the Department of Transportation (DOT), state and city governments etc. Insurance companies usually adopt or specify existing standards, practices and procedures as a condition of insurability for industrial organizations. Examples of nonmandatory standards thay may be adopted by U.S. regulatory bodies are those issued by the ASME, ANSI, ISA, NFPA, UL etc. (See References for identi- fication of acronyms.) Current federal regulations that pertain to hydrogen are listed in Table 1 and nonmandatory standards and guidelines are selectively referenced in Table 2.

Federal regulations apply to the interstate transportation of hydrogen and are administered and enforced by the various branches of the Department of Transportation: the Federal Highway Administration for transport by highway; the Federal Railroad Administration for transport by railway; the Federal Aviation Administration for air transport; and the U.S. Coast Guard for water transport. The Materials Transportation Bureau (through the Office of Hazardous Materials Operations) has enforcement responsibility in all other matters related to vehicular transportation of hydrogen. The Office of Pipeline Safety Operations of the Materials Transportation Bureau has authority over pipeline transmission of hazardous gases and liquids. Title 49 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Parts 102 and 107. 301, designates these rule-making and enforcement bodies of the DoT. This regulatory document is cited as 49 CFR 102 and 49 CFR 107.301--see [2]. In addition to the regulations and standards set forth in Tables 1 and 2, municipal and state regulations may be imposed for the storage and intrastate transportation of hydrogen.

The Transportation Safety Act of 1974 precipitated reorganization of the DoT and concomitant revision of applicable regulatory codes. Equipment specifications and shipping and carder regu- lations for gaseous and liquid hydrogen are given in 49 CFR (170-179). This code summarizes the federal regulations for transportation of hydrogen by highway, railroad, air and water and eliminates

579

580 J. HORD

TAat~E 1. Regu la t ions (mandatory ) for d is t r ibut ion of hydrogen

Equipment Transportation Distribution of hydrogen by specifications regulations

Cylinders filled with 49CFR 178.5712] 49 CFR (172.200--172.542), Also Parts liquid--by highway 173.316, 177, 177.823, 177.840, 177.859, 397

[2, 3]

Requires "exemption" by the Office of Haz- ardous Materials Operations of DoT: 49 CFR (172.200-172.542), also Parts 173.32, 173.33, 177, 177.823, 177.859, 397 [2, 3]

49 CFR 179, also Parts 49 CFR (172.200-172.542), Also Parts 179.400, 179.401 [2] 173.316, 174 I21

- - Not allowed under current regulations (see 49 CFR 172.101) [2]. Shipment by tank barge has been allowed under special permit of the DoT. Future shipments, if permitted, will require an "exemption".

49 CFR (190-192), also Part 195 [2]

Highway truck trailers filled with liquid

Railway tank cars filled with liquid Container filled with liquid----by air or waterway

Liquid pipeline

Cylinders filled with com- pressed gas---by highway or highway truck trailers filled with compressed gas

Railway tank cars filled with compressed gas

Container filled with com- pressed gas--by air

Container filled with com- pressed gas---by waterway

CGA*-341 and DoT approval prior to fabrication: 49 CFR 107.103 [2, 4]

ANSI B31.8, B31.3" B31.10* [5-7]

49 CFR 173,34, also Parts 178.36, 178.37 I2l

49 CFR 173.31, also Parts 179, 179.50012]

49 CFR 173.34, also Parts 178.36, 178.37 [2]

49 CFR 173.31, also Parts 173.34, 178.36, 178.37, 179, 179.500 [2]

Gas pipeline ANSI B31.8, B31.3"; B31.2" [5, 6, 81

49 CFR (172.200-172.542), also Parts 173.301, 173.302, 177, 177.823, 177.840, 177.859, 397 [2, 3]

49 CFR (172.200-172.542), also parts 173.314, 174 [2]

DoT approved cylinders on cargo aircraft only, with a maximum charge of 300 lb (136 kg) of 1-12 per container package: 49 CFR 172.101, also Parts (172.200-172.542), 173.301, 173.302, 173.306, 175; see also CAB No. 82 [2, 9]

DoT approved cylinders on cargo vessels only; DoT approved highway vehicles on trailer- ship, ferry or caritoat only; DoT approved tank cars on trainship, railroad-car ferry or carttoat only. 49 CFR 172.101, also Parts (172.200-172.542), 173.301,173.302, 173.306, 173.314, 176, 176.63,176.76 [2]

49 CFR (190-192) [2]

General industrial safety matters, including the production and handling of flammable compressed and liquefied gases, are regulated by OSHA PL 91-596 [10].

* Not mandatory but industrially accepted standards.

the need to refer to Tit le 14 (for air sh ipments ) and Tit le 46 (for water sh ipments ) as prev ious ly requ i red [78]. Graz iano 's [79] Tar i f f No. 32 conta ins all of the per t inent t ranspor ta t ion regulat ions set for th in Tit le 49 CFR, except for gas and l iquid p ipel ine regulat ion= 49 CFR (190-192) and 49 CFR 195, respect ively. P ipe l ine t ransmiss ion of f lammable compressed gases (presumably inc luding hydrogen) is regu la ted by 49 CFR (190-192).

HYDROGEN SAFETY: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

TABLE 2. Nonmandatory standards and guidelines for hydrogen safety

581

Storage of hydrogen Equipment specifications Industrial standards at consumer sites as

Compressed gas ASME*, Section 8, Divi- NFPA* 50A [13] sions 1 and 2 [11, 12]

Liquid ASME*, Section 8, Divi- NFPA* 50B [14] sions 1 and 2 [11, 12]

Safety guidelines References

Handling procedures (includes safety in production, [13-35] transportation and distribution, personnel training etc.)

Storage [13-15, 33, 36, 37,* 38t]

Explosive criteria Summarized in [15] and [39] See also [40] and [41]

Leak detection and fire detection, prevention, control [15, 42-50]

Facilities [15] and [39]

Mechanical equipment [4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 51-66, 67,:~ 68,]

Electrical equipment [48, 49, 69--77]

* Not mandatory but industrially accepted standards. t Hydride storage safety has been fully evaluated for lanthium-nickel and iron-titanium

hydrides. Summary documents related to materials research needs and compatible materials for liquid

and gaseous hydrogen service.

The DoT classifies and treats gaseous and liquid hydrogen as a compressed FLAMMABLE GAS--see 49 CFR 172.101 and 49 CFR (172-179). HYDROGEN, L IQUEFIED is the proper shipping name for liquid hydrogen 49 CFR 172.101. Air transportation of compressed hydrogen gas is regulated by 49 CFR (172-178) and the commercial carrier restricted articles Tariff No. 6- D [9]. Liquid hydrogen is not currently accepted for air shipments. Transportation of compressed hydrogen gas by water is regulated by 49 CFR (172-179) and liquid hydrogen cannot currently be shipped by water; however, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration has barged liquid hydrogen over distances of 84 km offshore Louisiana-Mississippi under special permit of the U.S. Coast Guard. The DoT no longer issues "special permits" but grants "exemptions" to the regulations for special shipments of hazardous materials (including liquid hydrogen). The Office of Hazardous Materials Operations of DoT has the authority to issue these exemptions, which are required to transport liquid hydrogen in truck trailers via highway and in all other cases where DoT equipment specifications are nonexistent--see 49 CFR (107.101-107.125).

REFERENCES

Note: in the references that follow,

CGA Compressed Gas Association, Inc., 500 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10036. ANSI American National Standards Institute, 1430 Broadway, New York, NY 10018. NFPA National Fire Protection Association, Publication Sales Department, 470 Atlantic Ave., Boston,

MA 02210.

582 J. HORD

ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers, United Engineering Center, 345 East 47th Street, New York, NY 10017.

UL Underwriters' Laboratories, Publication Stock, 333 Pfingsten Road, Northbrook, IL 60062. ISA Instrument Society of America, 400 Stanwix Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

1. D. C. ADKINS and R. J. JASKE, Hydrogen, Mineral Facts and Problems, Bur. Mines Bulletin 667, pp. 491- 505 (1975), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

2. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Transportation, Chapter 1, Materials Transportation Bureau, Department of Transportation, Parts 100-199 (1976), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

3. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 49, Transportation, Chapter 3, Federal Highway Administration, Department of Transportation, Subchapter B--Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, Parts 390-397 (1976), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

4. Tentative Standard for Insulated Tank Truck Specification for Cold Liquefied Gases, CGA Pamphlet CGA-341 (1970 + 1972 Addenda); see also, Federal Register, Vol. 39, No. 42, Docket HM 115, p. 7950 (1 March 1974), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

5. American National Standard Code for Pressure Piping, Gas Transmission and Distribution Piping Systems, ANSI B31.8 (1975) (ASME, New York).

6. American National Standard Code for Pressure Piping, Chemical Plant and Petroleum Refinery Piping, ANSI B31.3 (1976) (ASME, New York): this reference applies to gaseous and liquid piping.

7. American National Standard Code for Pressure Piping, Cryogenic Piping Systems, ANSI B31.10 (in preparation).

8. American National Standard Code for Pressure Piping, Fuel Gas Piping, ANSI B31.2 (1968) (ASME, New York).

9. Official Air Transport Restricted Articles Tariff No. 6-D, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) No. 82, Section 1 (pp. 15-48 with appropriate revisions), Section 2 (p. 91) and Section 3---Part G (pp. 203, 209), 1977- 1978 (or latest) Edition, issued by the Airline Tariff Publishing Company, Dulles International Airport, P.O Box 17415, Washington, DC 20041.

10. Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, PL 91-596 (29 December 1970), in United States Statutes at Large, 91st Congress, Second Session 84, Part 2, pp. 1590-1620 (1971), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

11. ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section 8, Division 1, Pressure Vessels, ANSI/ASME BPV-VIII- 1 (1977): this reference applies to gaseous and liquid containers for portable and stationary applications.

12. ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section 8, Division 2, Pressure Vessels, Alternative Rules, ANSI/ASME BPV-VIII-2 (1977): this reference applies to gaseous and liquid containers for stationary applications only.

13. Standard for Gasous Hydrogen Systems at Consumer Sites, NFPA Pamphlet No. 50A (ANSI Z292.2) (1973).

14. Standard for Liquefied Hydrogen Systems at Consumer Sites, NFPA Pamphlet No. 50B (ANSI Z292.3) (1973).

15. General Safety Engineering Design Criteria, Vol. 1, CPIA public, 194 (October 1971); also, Liquid Propellant Handling, Storage and Transportation, Vol. 3, CPIA public. 194 (May 1972)--documents prepared by the JANNAF propulsion committee of the JANNAF Hazards Working Group and are available from the Chemical Propulsion Information Agency (CPIA) of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 8621 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910 (also available to the public through National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22,150: Vol. 1 Accession No. AD 889 763, Vol. 3 Accession No. AD 870 259).

16. Hydrogen Safety Manual, NASA-Lewis Research Center, NASA Tech. Memo TM-X-52454 (1968). 17. On an investigation of hazards associated with the storage and handling of liquid hydrogen, Final Report

C-61092, Contract No. AF 18(600)-1687, prepared by Arthur D. Little, Inc., DDC Access. No. AD 324194, 137 pp. (March 1960).

18. Liquid hydrogen, a guide for the safe handling and storage of liquid hydrogen at LASL Facilities, Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, P.O. Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87544.

19. A. A. WEIYrP~UB, Control of liquid hydrogen hazards at experimental facilities: a review, health and safety laboratory, U.S. Atomic Energy Comm., New York, NY (May 1965); also, J. GRUMER, A. STRASSER and R. A. VAN METER, Principles for safe handling of liquid hydrogen, Bur. Mines Tech. Rept. (June 1967).

20. D. B. CHELTON, Safety in the use of liquid hydrogen, Technology and Uses of Liquid Hydrogen, Ed. by R. B. Scoa~r, W. H. DENTON and C. M. NICHOLLS, pp. 359--378 (Macmillan, New York, 1964).

21. W. W. CONNOLLY, A practical safety standard for commercial handling of liquefied hydrogen, Advances in Cryogenic Engineering 12, Ed. by K. D. Timmerhaus, pp. 192-197 (Plenum Press, New York, 1967).

HYDROGEN SAFETY: AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY 583

22. Recommended materials and practices for use with cryogenic propellants, Aerospace Information Report, AIR 839B, 68 pp. (Soc. of Auto. Engrs., April 1969).

23. Cryogenics safety manual, a guide to good practice (British Cryogenics Council, 16 Belgrave Square, London, SW1X 8PT, 1970).

24. H. P. HERNANDEZ, Safety guidelines for accelerator installations, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory Rept. No. UCRL-18555 (February 1969).

25. Handbook of Compressed Gases, Compressed Gas Assoc., Inc. (Reinhold, New York, 1900). 26. Safe Handling of Compressed Gases in Containers, CGA Pamphlet P-1 (1974). 27. American National Standard Method of Marking Portable Compressed C. ~ Containers to Identify the

Material Contained, CGA Pamphlet C-4; also ANSI Z48.1-1954 (R 1971). 28. Guide to the Preparation of Precautionary Labeling and Marking of Compressed Gas Containers, CGA

Pamphlet C-7 (1976). 29. Hydrogen, CGA Pamphlet G-5 (1974). 30. Commodity Specification for Hydrogen, CGA Pamphlet G-5.3 (1969); see also, Hydrogen Commodity

Specification, MIL-P-27201B (June 1971) (available from USN Supply Depot, 5801 Tabor Ave., Phila- delphia, PA 19120).

31. Lightning Protection Code, ANSI/NFPA Pamphlet No. 78 (1977). 32. Static Electricity, NFPA Pamphlet No. 77 (1972). 33. Standard for the Installation and Operation of Oxygen-Fuel Gas Systems for Welding and Cutting, NFPA

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34. R. D. SIEWERT, Evacuation areas for transportation accidents involving propellant tank pressure bursts, NASA TMX-68277 (November 1972).

35. Emergency services guide for selected hazardous materials (spills, fire, evacuation area), Dept. of Trans- portation, Office of the Secretary, Office of Hazardous Materials, Washington, DC 20590 (April 1974).

36. M. G. ZABETAKIS and D. S. BURGESS, Research on the hazards associated with the production and handling of liquid hydrogen, Bureau Mines Rept, RI-5707 (1961).

37. C. E. LtmDIN and R. W. SULLIVAN, The safety characteristics of LaNi5 hydrides, Hydrogen Energy, Part A, Ed. by T. N. VEZIROGLU, pp. 645--658 (Plenum Press, New York, 1975).

38. C. E. LUNDIN and F. E. LYNCH, The safety characteristics of FeTi hydride, Proc. of 10th Intersociety Energy Conversion Engr. Conf., pp. 1386-1390 (August 1975).

39. J. HORD, Explosion criteria for liquid hydrogen test facilities, Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), NBS Report (February 1972).

40. Explosion Venting, NFPA Pamphlet No. 68 (1974). 41. Standard on Explosion Prevention Systems, NFPA Pamphlet No. 69 (1973). 42. B. ROSEN, V. H. DAYAN and R. L. PROFFIT, Hydrogen leak and fire detection, NASA SP-5092 (1970). 43. Standard on Automatic Fire Detectors, NFPA Pamphlet No. 72E (ANSI SE3.13) (1974). 44. Fire Hazard Properties of Flammable Liquids, Gases, Volatile Solids, NFPA Pamphlet No. 325M (1969). 45. National Fire Codes, NFPA Vols. 1 and 2 (1977); these volumes deal with general fire-fighting and fire

control. 46. J. M. DONNINI, Hydrogen fire blink detector, U.S. Patent Application S/N 51477 (July 1970). 47. R. L. P. CUSTER, and R. G. BRIGHT, Fire detection: the state of the art, Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Tech.

Note TN-839 (June 1974). 48. Fire Protection Equipment Directory (January 1977), available from UL. 49. Hazardous Location Equipment Directory (May 1977), available from UL. 50. Guide to OSHA Fire Protection Regulations, Vols. 1-5, NFPA No. OSHA-C (1977). 51. ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section 9, Welding and Brazing Qualifications (1977). 52. ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section 3, Division 1 and Division 2, Nuclear Power Plant

Components (1977): a series of eight standards applicable to nuclear plants and installations. 53. Vacuum insulated cryogenic pipes, some recommendations concerned with pipe and coupling design

(British Cryogenics Council, 16 Belgrave Square, London SWlX 8PT, 1972). 54. Safety Relief Device Standards, Part 1---Cylinders for Compressed Cases, CGA Pamphlet S-I.1 (1972);

Part 2---Cargo and Portable Tanks for Compressed Gases, CGA Pamphlet S-1.2 (1966); Part 3----Com- pressed Gas Storage Containers, CGA Pamphlet S-1.3 (1966).

55. Recommended Practice for the Manufacture of Fusible Plugs, CGA Pamphlet S-4 (1967). 56. Frangible Disc Safety Device Assembly, CGA Pamphlet S-3. 57. American National, Canadian, and CGA Standard, Compressed Gas Cylinder Valve Outlet and Inlet

Connections, CGA Pamphlet V-1 (1977); also Canadian Standards Association CSA B96 and American National Standards Institute ANSI B57.1.

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Pamphlet C-5 (1976).

584 J. HORD

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Timmerhaus, pp. 182-187 (Plenum Press, New York, 1972). 64. Standard for high-pressure gas manifolds, UL 407 (October 1972). 65. Standard for high-pressure gas gauges, UL 404 (December 1973). 66. Standard for gas pressure-regulators, UL 252 (May 1973). 67. N. H. G. DANIELS, B. C. SYRETI" and R. L. JONES, Materials requirements for advanced energy systems.

New Fuels. Vol. 3. Materials research needs in advanced energy systems using new fuels, Final Report ARPA-2484, Contract No. DAHC15-73-C-0313, prepared by Stanford Research Institute, 110 pp. (July 1974), available through National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22150, DDC Accession No. AD A004550.

68. J. G. HUST, Survey of materials for hydrogen service, Chapter 4, in NBS Special Publication, Selected Topics on Hydrogen Fuel, Ed. by J. Hord, NBS SP-419 (May 1975), available from U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

69. Standard for Intrinsically Safe Apparatus for Use in Class I Hazardous Locations, NFPA Pamphlet No. 493 (1975).

70. Standard for Purged and Pressurized Enclosures for Electrical Equipment in Hazardous Locations, NFPA Pamphlet No. 496 (1974).

71. National Electrical Code, NFPA Pamphlet No. 70-1978 (1978). 72. Electrical Instruments in Hazardous Atmospheres, ISA-RP 12.1 (1960). 73. Instrument Purging for Reduction of Hazardous Area Classification, ISA-$12.4 (1970). 74. Installation of Intrinsically Safe Instrument Systems in Class 1 Hazardous Locations (ANSI/ISA-1977),

ISA-RP 12.6 (1976). 75. Electrical Safety Abstracts, 4th ed. (1972), available from ISA. 76. Electrical Safety Practices, ISA Monograph 113 (1972). 77. E. C. MAOISON. Electrical Instruments in Hazardous Locations, 3rd ed, 394 pp. (Instrument Society of

America, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1978). 78. J. HORD, Is hydrogen safe?, Nat. Bur. Stand. (U.S.), Tech. Note TN-690 (October 1976). 79. R. M. GRAZlANO'S TARIFF No. 32 (with supplements), Hazardous Material Regulations of the Department

of Transportation by Air, Rail, Highway, Water and Military Explosives by Water including Specifications for Shipping Containers, published by Bureau of Explosives, Association of American Railroads, 1920 L Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036 (November 1978).