Which is more dangerous: oxygen, hydrogen, or liquefied petroleum gas?
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Which is more dangerous: oxygen, hydrogen, or liquefied petroleum gas? The Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings GB50016-2006 and the Code for Design of Urban Gas GB50028-2006 stipulate that a bottled liquefied petroleum gas supply station of Grade 1 shall be located 10 meters away from main roads, while a bottled liquefied petroleum gas supply station of Grade 2 shall be 8 meters away from such roads; Grade 3 stations are to follow the requirements applicable to Grade 2. However, neither the Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings GB50016-2006, nor the design codes for oxygen stations and hydrogen stations specify a distance of this shortness between the gas cylinders and the roads outside the facility. Does it mean that, according to these regulations, the distance between oxygen and hydrogen cylinders and the external roads should be 20 meters in all cases? Is the distance from the same amount of hydrogen and oxygen to the roads outside the plant greater than the distance from liquefied petroleum gas to those roads? Additionally, if the number of gas cylinders does not exceed the limits specified in the building codes and fire safety regulations, can the provisions for liquefied petroleum gas be applied? !
Based solely on the physical and chemical properties of these three gases, hydrogen and liquefied petroleum gas are the most hazardous, with oxygen being the least hazardous.
Hydrogen and propane pose a greater risk; hydrogen is classified as IIC, which indicates that it has a higher explosion risk. However, hydrogen is lighter than air; if the source of release is outdoors, the area at risk of explosion is smaller, less so than with liquefied petroleum gas. From this perspective, petroleum gas poses a greater risk as well. The distance between the process equipment and the roads must take into account the impact of vehicle traffic on the process equipment; therefore, the roads should be kept at a certain distance from the production facilities. The standard distance required between the liquid oxygen storage tank and the roadside of main roads is 10 m.
Reply to 3# hansfei: What I’m asking about here is bottled industrial oxygen, bottled industrial hydrogen, and bottled liquefied petroleum gas – not production facilities or storage tanks. If there are only 20 cylinders of liquefied petroleum gas (15 kilograms each), 8 meters is sufficient for the road outside the facility. So, if there are only 20 bottles of oxygen or 20 bottles of hydrogen (40L), is a distance of 20 meters required from the road outside the facility? Will 8 meters to 10 meters be sufficient?
Danger is not absolute; safety is a state. For example, in the case of major hazard sources, accidents do not necessarily occur just because they exist. Even a storage tank with a volume of one cubic meter can lead to an accident if proper measures are not taken.