Author: Alejandro Jimenez
Date/Time: October 16th, 2025 at 2:00 PM EST
Location: EGR-0151, Glenn L. Martin Hall
Committee Members:
- Dr. Katrina Groth, Chair
- Dr. Mohammad Modarres
- Dr. Yunfei Zhao
- Dr. Arnaud Trouve
- Dr. Peter Sunderland, Dean’s Representative
Title of Dissertation: Evaluating the Risk Trade-Offs of Pressure Relief Devices in Hydrogen Systems
Abstract: Hydrogen is increasingly being used as an energy carrier because of its potential to reduce carbon emissions in transportation and heavy industry. Nevertheless, this transition necessitates establishing an infrastructure for storing, transporting, and distributing hydrogen. This infrastructure is typically equipped with pressure relief devices (PRD) to protect systems from uncontrolled pressure increases. Without PRDs, a substantial pressure increase has the potential to rupture the equipment and lead to a hydrogen release, which could lead to fires, explosions, and significant damage. However, recent incidents have shown that these PRDs can also be the root cause of leaks and releases. Therefore, there is a need to understand the conditions when PRDs increase the risk versus when these devices effectively mitigate the risk. This dissertation analyzes the risk profile of PRDs when installed on hydrogen systems. To do this, we establish the risk management needs by identifying pressure relief device incidents in hydrogen systems and standardizing the observed root causes. Then, we define a probabilistic failure model for PRD installed on hydrogen systems. With this model, we assess the risk provided by pressure relief devices, comparing the risk of different fueling station configurations and the risk mitigated by the device against the risks they provide.
This research is the first of its kind in analyzing the risk profile of PRDs. Its findings have the potential to influence system design, inform codes and standards, and guide decision-making in risk management, particularly about how to model trade-offs when making decisions and the optimization of asset integrity and maintenance strategies for systems where pressure relief devices are required on hydrogen codes and standards.