For decades we have understood and minimised the risks from hydrocarbon gas and vapour releases; the behaviour of these molecules is well understood. We have continued to develop our detection technology to provide the best safety controls possible. Now there’s a new molecule in town – hydrogen.

Hydrogen behaves very differently to hydrocarbons; detection possibilities are changed and sometimes even limited. Some of its differences are well documented, such as having an invisible flame – but what does this mean for fire and gas detection system design? Moreover, the energy transition requires just that, a transition.

 Part of that transformation may require blending of hydrogen in to hydrocarbons to provide marginal gains on our CO2 emissions – what does this mean for the traditional detection already installed and does anything need to change?

We answer all of these questions in our talk “From hydrocarbons to hydrogen – what changes when it comes to fire and gas safety?”

About the author:

Megan Hine has worked for Draeger for 5 years, specialising in fixed gas detection, particularly in the energy industry. She has spoken at TEDx Dundee in 2016 and is a guest speaker at the University of Aberdeen in 2022 on the subjects of “Gas safety for the energy transition” and “Hydrogen gas safety” as part of their Msc Renewable Energy Engineering program.