Are hydrogen cars dangerous?

Question

Because hydrogen is very flamable. And if there not then why don't they have cars running on it? Please give me some details!

Answer 1

Gasoline is flammable too.

When gasoline escapes, it pours out, runs everywhere and burns.  When hydrogen escapes, it's lighter than air so it goes STRAIGHT UP as it burns.

In the Hindenberg disaster, people were burned by gasoline (for its engines) not hydrogen.

You can't be afraid of every conceivable alternative, especially when what you got now isn't safe.   That would be like only wanting to fly because "the train might crash".

Answer 2

No, but they're inefficient.  Storage is a problem, energy density is a problem, cost is a problem, complexity is a problem, weather performance is a problem.

Storage = HFC cars require an exotic fuel tank.

Density = HFC cars have only 100 mile range.

Cost = HFC cars cost $1,000,000 each.

Complexity = HFC cars require advanced computer systems to monitor the fuel cell performance.

Weather = HFC cars do poorly in colder weather, even mild weather.

The only reason hydrogen cars exist is because the oil companys see it as a dead-end technology that will delay the inevitable battery powered electric cars for at least 20 more years.

Answer 3

For an excellent comparison of the fire danger from a hydrogen powered vehicle with that of a gasoline powered vehicle, check out this site:

http://evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=4...  

Give me H, baby!  Also, although the Hindenberg accident gave H a bad name, an investigation has found that most of the deaths were caused by a) gravity or b) burning oil and diesel from the thrust engines.  

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments...

In all likelihood, no deaths resulted from the hydrogen fire.  All the flames you see in the films are of the dirigible's powdered aluminum-coated skin burning, not the H. Powdered Aluminum = rocket fuel. Hydrogen burns verry quickly and the flames are difficult to see.  Notice how much brighter the gasoline fire in the pictures are then the hydrogen flames.

Answer 4

I work for a company that delivers H2 vehicle car prototypes to OEM manufacturers, and I can tell you the best answer regarding H2 safety was provided by "GRETCH".

As explained there, in many ways H2 cars are less dangerous than gasoline-powered vehicles.

Many automotive companies around the world are investing many millions of dollars, to have H2-powered vehicles become a reality.

One by one, we are addressing every challenge, including reducing cost of parts, storage, distrubution, H2 efficient production, etc.

I expect that you will see production H2 cars before 2020, and maybe as early as 2015.

Answer 5

Hydrogen cars are safe and getting safer everyday.  The safety of any of the alternative fuels is irrelevant as to why we don't have cars running on it now.   The simplest explanation for why we don't see hydrogen cars is no one has entered the market with a competitively priced alternative fuel that people want to buy.   I will be converting a couple of cars this year to run on hydrogen and produce the fuel to run these cars as well.   No doubt these conversions will cause me some fits like the small mower did but other people have done it and Roy McAlister author of 'The Solar Hydrogen Civilization' has been converting cars for 40+ years.  

Fossil fuels:  "Just say NO" convert to 'Green Hydrogen'

Answer 6

Like many have already said, hydrogen cars are not as dangerous as the Hindenburg would make you believe. Hydrogen tanks are designed to withstand the pressures of crash and using nonflammable materials.

Answer 7

Sure, they can be dangerous, but so can gasoline cars.  If you think about it, how comfortable are you sitting on a plastic tank full of a bunch of gasoline that's going to sit under your car if you get in an accident and crack it?  But as other have said, it's different.  

If you ever get an opportunity to see a hydrogen tank, take it, it will make you feel better.  They are the same or similar to CNG tanks, and are certified to take all sorts of abuse - they dump them off buildings, shoot them with machine guns, toss them into fires, etc - they are very thoroughly tested.

I've driven them, and had my children in them.  Although there is a public opinion problem looming around safety, the fact that you can't get them right now is largely due to the other factors listed above - Cost (for fuel cells, in particular), and lack of fueling stations/methods.    Also, about 95% of the H2 we use in the US comes from natural gas, which just moves your carbon problem upstream - this is the only way they claim it's economical here.  The renewable/clean versions are too inefficient so far.  There's hope for nuclear as a way of producing H2 efficiently, but that of course comes with it's own arguments...

Answer 8

A hydrogen tank on a car isn't much more dangerous than a fuel tank on a car. There are different ups and downs for explosions.

When a liquid fuel tank ruptures the gasoline spills and stays on the ground. It is a present threat to any ignition sources near the ground.

When a gaseous fuel tank ruptures, the fuel blows away. It is dangerous for about 2 minutes after the rupture. Simply creating a hole in the tank won't cause an explosion either. There has to be both oxygen and hydrogen in the tank for an explosion. The tank has to rupture long enough for the air to mix before finding a spark. Just hope the car crash isn't into a building. Then the ruptured fuel tank will spill the hydrogen into a contained space. That is much more dangerous.

Hydrogen is produce from two sources: 1) oil or natural gas products 2) water. Oil has a much more dense concentration of hydrogen gas and is the preferred medium to take the gas from.

I believe water makes up about 10 or 20 percent of world production, but don't have source to back that up.

A better direction to look at in butanol as a fuel source. It is a better fuel source than gasoline or ethanol. It doesn't evaporate as quickly as gasoline mixes. It is far less corrosive than ethanol and in some cases gasoline. And it has only slightly less energy than normal gasoline. It would be a straight replacement. There are two different efforts to build pilot plants for producing butanol from agricultural waste currently that I know of. Biodesiel beats it, but desiel engines aren't popular.

Answer 9

The company i represent has a patent on a hydrogen fuel cell that increases milieage by 50-100% [e-mail] for the details

Answer 10

Hydrogen is dangerous!  But mostly because lots of people believe these cars will be on the road soon to solve our oil addiction.  The danger here is because this very likely will never happen, because hydrogen is not an energy source, it is an energy carrier.  

You still have to burn oil, coal, and natural gas to get the electricity to make hydrogen.  

They've been telling us for 15 years that hydrogen cars are 10 to 15 years away.  They still are and will always be.

Answer 11

Hydrogen is much more flammable than gasoline, and people naturally think of the Hindenburg.

http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/explos...

However, hydrogen safety is possible, since many cars run on propane and methane, and weather balloons use hydrogen because it is cheaper than helium.

The main reason hydrogen is uneconomic, is the difficulty in storing the gas at very low temperatures, and transporting it to fuelling stations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_ve...

Answer 12

No, hydrogen is far less dangerous then gasoline. The energy content of a storage container of hydrogen is only a fraction of that of a tank of gasoline. I was working on hydrogen cars many years ago and we did everything from trying to rupture the storage tank by brute force to shooting rifle rounds at it. We were successful in all cases but failed to produce spectacular explosions predicted by doomsayers. The problem was actually quite interesting. Hydgogen flame is invisiblee in air (dring the day) and very hot, thus you can get burned easily as you do not see the flame. Most efficient storage means use metal hydride technology ane are *exceedingly* safe. Hydrogen forms compounts called hydrides and thus is safely stored. Pressurized storage of hydrogen is inefficient. The problem we observed with hydrogen cars was the low energy content, thus you can have any two of the following, but never all three: fast, cheap, far.

There is no viable hydrogen distribution system in the US. Natural gas (octane rating of 104) is a far better alternative.

Answer 13

Hydrogen cars are different, not necessarily more or less dangerous!

Some characteristics of hydrogen make it safer than gasoline, for example -

* hydrogen diffuses quickly, it won't pool under a vehicle

* hydrogen is non-toxic

But other make it riskier -

* It's generally used in vehicles now as a compressed gas, adding "projectiles" to the risks

* You can't smell it if it's leaking, and so far there aren't additives that can be used in fuel cell applications

The reasons you can't buy one are many, but fall into reliability of technologies (stage of development), cost, and infrastructure (no place to fill it).

Answer 14

Hydrogen cars can be dangerous but if you sit down and think about the fact that our current cars are strapped with a giant tank of very flammable gasoline then hydrogen isnt too bad an idea. its really just how its all contained and transported. if u get into an accident with any car there is always high risk for an explosion. but after so long we have gotten used to the idea so it doesnt affect us, until we get in an accident then-boom. like driving around with a bomb. same idea would go with a hydrogen car. it can be just as dangerous.

Answer 15

Yes, hydrogen could be very dangerous.  The PSI (air pressure) that the hydrogen is put under is very high and hydrogen is very combustible.  Just watch footage of the Hindenburgh if you want to learn about the flamability of hydrogen.  However, scientist are looking at ways to chemically combine it with metals and other substances so it can be stored easier and isn't so combustible.  And even if hydrogen is stored in a gaseous form, if the tank is built right it could possibly be more safe than gas.  It's hard to say how safe it will be until a bunch of hydrogen cars are out on the road or a lot more crash testing is done on them.  And with as expensive as hydrogen cars are to build, I don't think you want to start crash testing them a bunch.

If the hydrogen is produced on demand say from water, it could be very very safe.  I mean water is not combustible at all.

Answer 16

H is very dangerous, hard to store, due to the very small size of the molecules. Very difficult to manufacture. Cost plenty , and the current source is natural gas. What a deal.