Disclosure: This post is sponsored by AcuTech and reflects their views, opinions, and insights.
AcuTech, a trusted name in process safety, security, and risk management, has been at the forefront of ensuring safe operations for industries handling hazardous chemicals since 1994. As the hydrogen industry expands in response to global decarbonization goals, the safety challenges associated with hydrogen have become increasingly complex, requiring specialized expertise to address hydrogen's unique physical properties during transport, storage, and use.
Aaron Harris recently joined AcuTech as Group Leader, Hydrogen Services, and will be attending the 2025 Center for Hydrogen Safety (CHS) Americas Conference, taking place October 14–16 in Houston, TX. AIChE spoke with Aaron to discuss how organizations can actively mitigate hydrogen safety risks to ensure a sustainable energy future.
Why is specialized hydrogen expertise critical when developing process safety strategies for hydrogen facilities?
Hydrogen is a very buoyant flammable gas, nearly eight times more buoyant than methane and with a much wider flammability range (H2tools). While many requirements for hydrogen are common to all flammable gases, hazardous conditions may inadvertently result from a failure to properly apply hydrogen-specific safety strategies when generating, processing, storing, or transporting hydrogen.
What unique hazards does hydrogen present compared to traditional chemical processes, and how does expert knowledge mitigate these risks?
Although hydrogen has been safely used in traditional chemical processes for decades, expertise in mitigating its unique risks has been limited to specialists. Hydrogen as a fuel is relatively new and dramatically increases applications. Stakeholders often mistake experience with methane—particularly compressed natural gas—as sufficient for recognizing and mitigating hydrogen fuel risks. Several differences between hydrogen and methane require special attention. Hydrogen is a much smaller molecule and is processed at higher pressures. Therefore, leak detection and repair methods, as well as connection types for process equipment, are different and require dedicated knowledge and training.
Lack of familiarity with hydrogen's unique properties can lead to design considerations being misunderstood or overlooked. Given high availability demands of fueling applications, maintenance efforts may be rushed. Combined with limited experience, this increases incident risk.
How can integrating hydrogen safety experts early in project design improve operational reliability and compliance?
Including hydrogen process safety experts during project design helps identify potential risks to system reliability and availability. Hydrogen fueling applications are relatively new, and requirements have undergone several changes over the past decade. For example, separation distances in NFPA 2 have changed three times since 2011, reflecting substantial learning from hydrogen fueling applications.
Research efforts have uncovered new risks and mitigation strategies in response to real-world incidents. An emerging preference for hydrogen-specific PSM methodology combines the risk-based process safety (RBPS) model with hydrogen-specific requirements. Hydrogen safety experts are best equipped to guide stakeholders through this evolving landscape of standards and best practices.
What are the key challenges companies face without hydrogen-specific process safety expertise, and how can those be addressed?
Companies lacking hydrogen-specific expertise are likely to experience design delays or face higher risk of serious safety issues. Organizations like CHS provide access to best practices and valuable resources. However, companies must plan projects with enough time to gather, review, and apply this information effectively. Because hydrogen safety expertise is not yet widespread, companies should allocate time and resources for developing technical skills across the organization.
What surprised you most as you moved into hydrogen safety in terms of gaps in industry knowledge?
Harris, who has worked on hydrogen vehicles and fueling infrastructure throughout his career—from forklifts to cars, trucks, buses, trains, and planes—was struck by the gap between process safety experts and hydrogen application developers who rely on their support. While it's encouraging to see the hydrogen industry developing internal experts and seeking external guidance, it's equally important for process safety professionals to build hands-on experience with hydrogen projects. This is especially true as infrastructure developers actively seek safety experts with hydrogen-specific knowledge and experience.
Learn more about the 2025 Center for Hydrogen Safety (CHS) Americas Conference and register today.
Aaron Harris
Aaron Harris, Group Leader of Hydrogen Services at AcuTech Group, has over 20 years of experience advancing hydrogen safety across transportation, infrastructure, and global standards. He has led safety initiatives, contributed to key codes and regulations, and helped launch AIChE’s Center for Hydrogen Safety.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by AcuTech and reflects their views, opinions, and insights.
