Perceived research needs for Battery and Hydrogen Safety : A Nordic Perspective

Abstract

Changes in the energy landscape relating both to the ambitions of a green energy transformation as well as increasing global security concerns, have led to increased attention to new energy carriers. These can serve the role of allowing for the electrification of transport and decarbonization of industries as well as to reduce the effects of variation in many sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar. Many alternatives have been proposed, but two technologies at a reasonably high TRL level are batteries, which already have deep market penetration, and hydrogen, which is seen as a promising alternative for the electrification of heavy transport and the decarbonization of industry. However, as with all technologies, and particularly technologies with large amounts of stored energy, there are safety concerns associated and the very rapid implementation put high demand on standardization and the pre-normative safety research that should underpin it. The challenge is not only to have enough safety research, but also to focus on the most important research questions. The project presented in this report is an attempt to map out some of the most important research areas for both hydrogen and battery safety and prioritize between them with a combination of interviews and a quantitative survey. It should be noted that no mapping of the state-of-the-art has been performed in the scope of the project, so it is likely that several topics already is covered in the literature, making them into a need for research communication rather than for new empirical research. Therefore, such an assessment should be done through research review projects from funding agencies or when researchers develop applications. The results indicate that several important areas for hydrogen safety are related to specific mitigation methods such as safety distance, barriers, pressure relief, and detection, as well as knowledge on the reliability of those measures. When it comes to more fundamental understanding, it was seen as important to understand the overpressure generated by combustion inhomogeneous clouds of hydrogen and delayed ignition of jets. There were also some needs regarding liquid hydrogen. For steel-based materials, most non-researchers seemed to be of the opinion that enough was known while researchers pointed to several specific aspects requiring further investigation. For batteries, more focus should be placed on a fundamental understanding of the consequences of a thermal runaway and, not least, gas explosions. However, in parallel, there is a need to develop research to underpin guidelines on placement in buildings, ventilation, and fire barriers, as well as prevention of the propagation of thermal runaway. There was also a wide range of other specific needs regarding, for example, statistics on BESS fires, transport and storage of damaged batteries as well as solid-state batteries and tactics for BESS. The aspiration of the project is that the prioritized list of 113 specific research needs (61 for hydrogen and 52 for batteries) will be useful for both funding agencies developing research programs as well as for researchers writing applications and in the strategic development of their research

Abstract (Swedish)

Changes in the energy landscape relating both to the ambitions of a green energy transformation as well as increasing global security concerns, have led to increased attention to new energy carriers. These can serve the role of allowing for the electrification of transport and decarbonization of industries as well as to reduce the effects of variation in many sustainable energy sources such as wind and solar. Many alternatives have been proposed, but two technologies at a reasonably high TRL level are batteries, which already have deep market penetration, and hydrogen, which is seen as a promising alternative for the electrification of heavy transport and the decarbonization of industry.

However, as with all technologies, and particularly technologies with large amounts of stored energy, there are safety concerns associated and the very rapid implementation put high demand on standardization and the pre-normative safety research that should underpin it. The challenge is not only to have enough safety research, but also to focus on the most important research questions.

The project presented in this report is an attempt to map out some of the most important research areas for both hydrogen and battery safety and prioritize between them with a combination of interviews and a quantitative survey. It should be noted that no mapping of the state-of-the-art has been performed in the scope of the project, so it is likely that several topics already is covered in the literature, making them into a need for research communication rather than for new empirical research. Therefore, such an assessment should be done through research review projects from funding agencies or when researchers develop applications.

The results indicate that several important areas for hydrogen safety are related to specific mitigation methods such as safety distance, barriers, pressure relief, and detection, as well as knowledge on the reliability of those measures. When it comes to more fundamental understanding, it was seen as important to understand the overpressure generated by combustion inhomogeneous clouds of hydrogen and delayed ignition of jets. There were also some needs regarding liquid hydrogen. For steel-based materials, most non-researchers seemed to be of the opinion that enough was known while researchers pointed to several specific aspects requiring further investigation.

For batteries, more focus should be placed on a fundamental understanding of the consequences of a thermal runaway and, not least, gas explosions. However, in parallel, there is a need to develop research to underpin guidelines on placement in buildings, ventilation, and fire barriers, as well as prevention of the propagation of thermal runaway. There was also a wide range of other specific needs regarding, for example, statistics on BESS fires, transport and storage of damaged batteries as well as solid-state batteries and tactics for BESS.

The aspiration of the project is that the prioritized list of 113 specific research needs (61 for hydrogen and 52 for batteries) will be useful for both funding agencies developing research programs as well as for researchers writing applications and in the strategic development of their research.

• author: Runefors, Marcus
• organization: Division of Fire Safety Engineering; LTH Profile Area: The Energy Transition
• publishing date: 2024-04-01
• type: Book/Report
• publication status: published
• subject: Other Civil Engineering
• keywords: Research priorities, Green energy, Accidents, Prevention, Risk analysis
• in: Report
• issue: 7057
• pages: 42 pages
• publisher: Division of Fire Safety Engineering
• language: English
• LU publication?: yes
• id: c0154801-b4d1-40b0-82bd-8eed10c4237b
• date added to LUP: 2024-04-01 11:39:19
• date last changed: 2024-04-09 11:00:09