Safety Research (SIF)

The establishment of a nationwide hydrogen infrastructure in conjunction with the introduction of hydrogen technologies into widespread use, as envisaged by the German government's National Hydrogen Strategy, places special demands on hydrogen safety in order to avoid material damage and, in particular, acceptance problems among the general public. In addition to pre-normative research, which serves to expand and supplement existing regulations and standards, the focus here is on R&D work to develop model-based methods to derive application-specific safety concepts and evaluate the effectiveness of safety measures.

The Safety Research department is concerned with R&D for the safe use of hydrogen technologies. We investigate the operating behavior of safety equipment and develop numerical models and implement simulations for analyses that are used to evaluate safety concepts.

In addition to many years of experience in hydrogen safety research, both in the field of reactor safety and in the application of hydrogen as an energy carrier, the SIF department has been active as a founding member in the International Association for Hydrogen Safety (HySafe) for many years and has provided an expert in the European Hydrogen Safety Panel (EHSP) of the EU's Clean Hydrogen Partnership for 3 years.

Research Groups

Heads of department

Dr. Ernst-Arndt Reinecke

Last Modified: 09.12.2024