The safety and risks of hydrogen use
Hydrogen is an odourless and colourless gas. It can leak easily and is extremely explosive. This is why hydrogen must be handled carefully, and it is of the utmost importance that rooms in which hydrogen is being handled be equipped with effective gas detection. Gasified hydrogen explodes when it comes into contact with oxygen. The mixture of hydrogen and air is ten times more explosive than a petrol-air mixture. Explosions resulting from a combination of static electricity and hydrogen can be set off by something as little as an invisible spark caused by clothes made of synthetic fibres.
If a room is equipped with both hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors, some of these detectors will react to the hydrogen and trigger false alarms. In order to avoid false alarms, detectors that do not trigger alarms in these kinds of situations should be used to monitor CO.
How hydrogen safety is monitored with our devices
Detector Ltd. offers several alternatives for monitoring hydrogen, including both fixed detectors for mounting in a room and portable gas detectors for personal safety.
Fixed gas detectors
Because hydrogen is lighter than air, fixed gas detectors must always be mounted high up near the ceiling. If there are beams at the ceiling, one gas detector must be mounted in each space between the beams.
If a room is classified as a safe room, the following products are suitable for gas detection:
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Varia™
Modern and user-friendly gas detector for the measurement and monitoring of combustible and toxic gases, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen.
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Gas detector DGTk2
The DGTk2 is designed to measure and monitor combustible gases.
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Gas detector DGTec2
The DGTec2 is designed for the measurement and monitoring of toxic gases, oxygen, nitrogen, methanols and hydrogen.
If a room is classified as an explosion hazard area (ATEX), the following products are suitable for hydrogen monitoring.
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Gas Detector DGTkex
The DGTkex is suitable for use in hazardous areas for the measurement and monitoring of combustible gases and solvent vapours.
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Gas Detector DGTeex
The DGTeex is suitable for use in hazardous areas for the measurement and monitoring of toxic gases, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen.
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Gas detector DGTk2-ex
The DGTk2-ex is suitable for use in hazardous area for the measurement and monitoring of combustible gases.
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Gas detector DGTec2-ex
The DGTec2-ex is suitable for use in hazardous area for the measurement and monitoring of toxic gases, oxygen, nitrogen, methanols and hydrogen.
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Gas Detector DGTec-ex
The DGTec-ex is suitable for use in hazardous areas for the measurement and monitoring of toxic gases, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen.
Portable gas monitors
The following Detector Ltd. portable gas monitors are suitable for hydrogen monitoring:
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Riken Keiki GX-3R Pro
The Riken Keiki GX-3R Pro is a small, lightweight 4 gas monitor that can be used to measure five different gases.
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Riken Keiki GX-3R
The Riken Keiki GX-3R is the smallest and lightest 4 Gas Confined Space monitor available on the market.
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Riken Keiki GP-03
A portable gas monitor designed to measure flammable gases.
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Riken Keiki SC/GX-8000
Multi-gas portable detector with an internal pump. Used for monitoring oxygen and multiple different toxic and flammable gases.
Gas detection controller
Fixed gas detectors should always be connected to a gas detection controller or the user’s own, existing automation. If the user does not have their own automation, Detector offers the Seguro gas detection controller for this purpose.
Detector Ltd’s new gas detection controller, Seguro, brings gas monitoring to a new level. Seguro provides the ability of remote monitoring, allowing monitoring to be performed regardless of time and place.
Read more: Seguro gas detection controller | Detector Oy
Hydrogen – background and history
Hydrogen has been known as an energy source for over two hundred years, and the hydrogen economy is seen as being one of the cornerstones of the future energy system. In the future, hydrogen could even replace natural gas. Hydrogen will in all likelihood help industry break its dependency on carbon. Several decades ago, hydrogen was already being hailed as the gas of the future, with plans to use it as, among other things, a ship fuel. However, the problem with hydrogen turned out to be its explosiveness, which occurs in symbiosis with static electricity.
Green hydrogen
Another reason hydrogen was considered the energy of the future was that it made it possible to replace fossil fuels with solar and wind power. At present, not all hydrogen energy is green – it can be classified in the following categories based on its cleanness:
- Brown/black hydrogen: produced from coal through gasification, thus releasing carbon dioxide
- Grey hydrogen: produced from natural gas, or methane, using steam methane reformation A relatively large volume of carbon dioxide is also released in the production of grey hydrogen.
- Blue hydrogen: Also produced from the steam reformation of natural gas, but carbon dioxide emissions are trapped by means of carbon capture and storage (CCS)
- Green hydrogen: Green hydrogen is made by using clean electricity from renewable energy sources to electrolyse water. Green hydrogen can also be produced from biogas.
Facts on hydrogen and its monitoring:
https://youtu.be/BDc4IN8GMZo (in Finnish)
