Grid‐based assessment of hydrogen leakages for an offshore process to improve the design and human performance

Abstract

Hydrogen is gaining global recognition as a sustainable energy source, but its combustible nature raises concerns, especially in congested offshore settings. Steam methane reforming (SMR) remains the predominant hydrogen production method; however, offshore SMR facilities exposed to harsh weather could potentially compromise safety because of leakages. This study uses the fire dynamics simulator (FDS) to carry out the first‐of‐its‐kind CFD modeling of hydrogen leakage and its wind‐influenced dispersion on an offshore SMR platform. It also provides the spatial risk that accounts for the probabilities of human errors and wind speeds. The study uses a grid‐based approach with 120 monitor points (MPs) to measure locally dispersed gas concentration. At 2 m/s wind speed, only nine grids contain explosive concentrations while the rest remain safe. At 5 m/s, the flammable zones increase by 133%, affecting 21 grids. Extreme wind speeds of 12.5 m/s have limited impact, but SMR1 exhibits higher stoichiometric concentrations. MPs 43–48 record flammable concentrations at all wind speeds; however, at 12.5 m/s the explosion risk is well below the threshold of 1 × 10−4 due to the low wind occurrence probability. Overall, this research contributes to addressing the safety concerns associated with hydrogen in offshore settings and provides a foundation for future risk assessments.