Question 17: What is a safe distance at a hydrogen filling station, and what is the difference between a safe distance and a hazardous area?

Answer: The safety distance is the distance that reduces the risk between the source of danger and the target (people, equipment, environment) to predictable values. The hydrogen filling station is the source of danger, but it is also the target. The same applies to equipment installed around the hydrogen filling station in relation to the filling station itself. The safety distance can be reduced with additional safety measures.

A hazardous area is an area in which there is or may be an explosive atmosphere in quantities requiring special measures during the construction, installation and operation of a compressed hydrogen filling station.

Hazardous areas will always be a subset of the safe distances at hydrogen filling stations. This is mainly due to the fact, that hydrogen is very well dispersed in the atmosphere and does not form hazardous concentrations even in case of accidental emissions.