Abstract:Hydrogen is gaining traction as a zero carbon fuel for transportation and energy storage. A key challenge is infrastructure deployment, which is delayed by lack of codes and standards relevant to hydrogen fueling stations. Developing hydrogen codes and standards is challenging because the necessary models and technical data span multiple scientific and engineering disciplines. In this talk, I’ll discuss the HyRAM toolkit, which was built for the Department of Energy to enable rigorous, consistent safety analysis of hydrogen systems. The HyRAM(Hydrogen Risk Assessment Models) toolkit was designed to address key barriers to hydrogen infrastructure deployment, including limited access to safety data, lack of models describing hydrogen behavior, and challenges using technical data to revise standards. HyRAM integrates state-of-the-art models and methods to produce new scientific data. This data provides a common platform for assessing hydrogen safety with validated consequence models and quantitative risk assessment (QRA). The resulting information provides a transparent, documented basis to ensure code requirements are consistent, logical, and defensible. HyRAM is being used in the development of NFPA and ISO standards for hydrogen fueling stations.
Bio:
Katrina M. Groth is a Principal Member of Technical Staff in the Risk and Reliability Analysis department at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Her research centers on developing new methods for quantitative risk assessment (QRA) and Human Reliability Analysis (HRA), using quantitative causal models,Bayesian Networks, and computational simulation to solve complex problems with sparse data. Her research has provided rigorous, science-based capabilities to advance the use of risk-informed decision making for safety and security in hydrogen infrastructure and nuclear power. She is currently the principal investigator of a project on hydrogen QRA for the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fuel Cell Technologies Office (FCTO). This work coupling computational models of hydrogen behavior with probabilistic models for hydrogen system reliability addresses key barriers to the deployment of hydrogen fuel cell technologies. The resulting HyRAM (Hydrogen Risk Assessment Models) method and platform has been used in the development of the U.S. and international standards for hydrogen safety, NFPA 2 and ISO-19880-1, and has the potential to broadly impact the hydrogen safety community. Dr. Groth is a recipient of numerous awards,including a DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program R&D Award (2016) for contributions to hydrogen safety and risk assessment, a best paper award from the International Conference on Hydrogen Safety (2015), and the George Apostolakis Fellowship award (2012) for early career accomplishments in probabilistic risk assessment.Dr. Groth earned her Ph.D. in reliability engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park (2009). She also holds an M.S. in reliability engineering and a B.S. in nuclear engineering. She has authored over thirty-five journal and conference papers on risk analysis, hydrogen safety, and human reliability analysis.
