Swagelok's top 5 best practices for designing hydrogen fluid systems

With a complete suite of products and services for hydrogen applications, Swagelok helps build solutions more quickly, easily, and reliably

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HYDROGEN is one of the world's most promising sources of clean and sustainable energy and power. From transportation and material handling to stationary, portable, and emergency backup power, it's useful in a range of applications, and industries everywhere are taking notice.

But for hydrogen to truly meet its full potential, the critical fluid systems that handle, transport, store, and dispense the gas must be as safe and reliable as possible.

And importantly, traditional industry knowledge and design acumen, typically stemming from the oil and gas industry, don't always directly translate for hydrogen applications.

Why? Hydrogen is simply much different than typical oil and gas media, and as such, requires different design strategies for reliable infrastructure.

With this in mind, here are Swagelok's top five system design considerations for hydrogen infrastructure applications:

• Consider the end user: Aside from the gas pump, most industrial oil and gas systems exist out of sight for the everyday consumer. And they're typically handled by professionals.

But the potential for hydrogen as a clean energy source brings hydrogen systems directly into the hands of everyday people.

Consider transportation; a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will be refuelled at a hydrogen station where the user will transport a high-pressure gas into their vehicle through a convenient dispenser.

To mitigate safety concerns, hydrogen infrastructure must be designed with specific use challenges in mind.

• Minimise potential leak points: