The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the Compressed Gas Association (CGA), and the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)   represent the U.S. fire protection and engineering community, and these organizations publish handbooks and standards/guidelines that describe the properties of hydrogen. There are many other organizations and documents that provide similar…

This is an impossible question to answer without greater understanding of the quantities of hydrogen involved, the types of vessels involved, and the atmospheric conditions. Several companies offer software to model such releases. It’s important to note that there is a high probability of ignition either during the vessel rupture or from nearby ignition sources.

Vaporization of a trapped volume of LH2 will lead to significant increase in pressure due to the very large expansion ratio as the liquid converts to gas. Relief devices are required since the pressure increase is likely to be far in excess of the pressure rating of the system. When vaporized as part of a flowing process, pressure will not increase. As the LH2 is warmed, it undergoes a phase…

A pressure of 600 kPa (87 psi) is relatively moderate, so the combustion properties are similar to those at atmospheric pressure where the autoignition temperature of hydrogen is 585°C. 

H2-air flammability limits vary with temperature  . The H2-air lower flammability limit is virtually the same as the H2-O2 lower limit. However, the H2-O2 upper flammability limit increases substantially to about 95% at room temperature and gets even higher at elevated temperatures.

The design of vent systems is critical to the safety of the system. From a process perspective, the pipe design must be sufficient to withstand back pressure, internal pipeline pressure, deflagration pressure, thrust forces from the flow, and must be of a sufficient size to not create a restriction that prevents proper flow or activation of the devices. 

The vent system…

It is best to avoid planned blowdown of large amounts of hydrogen inventory at high flowrates if possible.  Low flow releases from vent systems are normal and occur for purging, delivery operations, and maintenance activity.   A challenge with high flow blowdown of a hydrogen system is that venting large quantities of hydrogen can itself be a hazardous activity.   …

Welded systems are generally preferred, where possible, to reduce the likelihood of leaks.  Generally, even welded systems will need non-welded joints (e.g. unions, flanges, etc.) to allow maintenance replacement of components.  A low-pressure system would not be an exception to this preference.  However, piping at lower pressures and smaller sizes will…

There are several concerns with “snuffing” a hydrogen fire from a vent stack. Most importantly, snuffing a hydrogen fire before the hydrogen is isolated can lead to the buildup of a hydrogen vapor cloud, which may then re-ignite, especially with hot surfaces available from the previous fire. The largest hazard is an explosion of the vapor cloud…

TIA 1783 points out a valid concern about how to address the electrical classification zone around a liquid hydrogen system. The existing requirements specify 3' around the outlet of the stack for Division 1 and 25' around the outlet of the stack for Division 2 area. These distances are historical and date back to the 1960's. They are a "one size fits all" simple approach that is easy to…