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Hydrogen Properties for Energy Research (HYPER) Laboratory Cool. Fuel.

Getting Back to Work…At Work (The HYPER Guide to Returning to the Lab Safely)

A new semester has begun, and research is kicking into high gear…but we are not operating under normal conditions. The pandemic has laid new challenges at our feet which has completely changed how we approach even the simplest of tasks. It is important, now more than ever, to band together as a lab community and apply HYPER ethics to tackle these obstacles.

As quarantine restrictions loosen in our state and we can begin returning to work, we have created a plan for returning to work that will help us to stay on track with our research goals while maintaining high safety standards to prevent the … » More …

How HYPER uses 6S for Success

It’s really simple. Continuous improvement results in speed, more success, and safety. Procedures are easy to continuously improve — they handle complex tasks with ease, they take input freely from many, they always take blame when something goes wrong, and they never complain about change. I enjoy good procedures. So… Why do we bury procedures in complex lab manuals that are never where we need them? Why do we leave procedures in passive black and white prose instead of fun active colorful mental maps? Why do we teach procedures in individual lab exercises that nobody else will ever use? » More ...

So just how dangerous is hydrogen fuel?

When I tell people I work on hydrogen fuel, they immediately say something very wrong like, “Are you worried about a mushroom cloud over your lab?” — Mushroom clouds are from a nuclear bomb detonation, and I don’t plan on starting thermonuclear fusion anytime soon in my lab, and if I did, it might save the planet. The other statement I often get is, “Wow, don’t want another Hindenberg!” Again, very wrong. Detailed studies from NASA and others have shown that … » More …

Let’s talk about Safety

One of the promising undergraduate students within the lab I worked in at Wisconsin was machining a part one day on a mill. He passed on the unsupervised lab-specific machine shop for risk of safety and was in the established student shop in the College — a fancy facade of a facility with a carefully organized tool closet and a windowed observation office where the head machinist, a disliked authoritarian of a person with decades of experience, could watch the shop. The student was very sharp, but left the chuck key in the mill head and turned it on. The key spun around, flew out, … » More …

Our near-miss hydrogen vent in ETRL 221

 

Yes, rumors about a hydrogen bomb in ETRL are exaggerated.

On August 2nd around 10:00 am, the HYPER lab had an uncontrolled hydrogen vent into ETRL 221. There was no damage to equipment or personnel, leaving the event classified in accordance with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) criteria as a “near-miss”. While no critical flaws were identified with the experiment design or procedures for handling the event, the subsequent expert review by the Hydrogen Safety Panel has valuable lessons learned for the WSU and cryogenic hydrogen research communities.
Event Timeline
Around 9:00 AM — A bird flew into a sub-station and shut down power … » More …

Compressed Gas Bottle Safety

Compressed gas bottle safety is important! Follow these simple rules to ensure your gas bottle stays a container – not a rocket.

Bottles should be chained at all times to prevent them from tipping over.
Steel caps need to be on bottles when not in use – especially for transportation.
Transport gas bottles on bottle carts.
Always use pressure relief devices when attaching high pressure bottles to systems.
Ensure lines are depressurized and bottle valve is shut before disconnecting the bottle from a system – even when the bottle is “empty”.
Flammable gas bottles should always be grounded before … » More …