Assessment and Mitigation of Hydrogen-Fuelled Fire Hazards

A Special Issue of Fire (ISSN 2571-6255).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 1257

Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Australian Maritime College, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, Australia
Interests: fire safety in hydrogen energy development and utilization; CFD; clean energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global transition toward low‑carbon energy systems has accelerated the adoption of hydrogen as a clean and versatile fuel. While hydrogen offers significant environmental benefits, its unique physicochemical properties, such as low ignition energy, wide flammability limits, high diffusivity, and invisible flames, introduce distinct fire and explosion hazards that require rigorous scientific investigation. Ensuring the safe production, storage, transport, and end‑use of hydrogen is therefore essential for enabling its large‑scale deployment across industrial, maritime, and urban environments.

This Special Issue aims to advance the understanding of hydrogen‑fuelled fire hazards and promote the development of effective mitigation strategies. Within the scope of Fire, it seeks contributions that deepen knowledge of ignition mechanisms, flame behaviour, dispersion dynamics, material response, and fire suppression challenges associated with hydrogen systems. Both experimental and computational studies are encouraged, including CFD modelling, risk assessment frameworks, safety engineering approaches, and innovative detection or protection technologies.

We welcome original research articles, reviews, and case studies that address hydrogen safety from fundamental, applied, or interdisciplinary perspectives. By bringing together experts from academia, industry, and government, this Special Issue aims to support evidence‑based standards, inform regulatory development, and strengthen the scientific foundation for safe hydrogen energy utilisation.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Javad Mohammadpour
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • hydrogen safety
  • fire and explosion hazards
  • combustion and flame dynamics
  • hydrogen dispersion
  • CFD and turbulence modelling
  • risk assessment and mitigation
  • clean energy systems
  • safety engineering
  • hydrogen infrastructure
  • fire detection and suppression

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

19 pages, 16289 KB  
Article
Dispersion and Explosion Characteristics of Hydrogen Released from a Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle
by Zhixin Wu, Dianji Wang, Xuefang Li, Huan Liu, Shishuai Nie, Peirong Chen and Wenfeng Zhan
Fire 2026, 9(7), 300; https://doi.org/10.3390/fire9070300 - 15 Jul 2026
Viewed by 891
Abstract
Safety concerns regarding hydrogen dispersion, fire, and explosion hinder the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs). This study developed and validated a numerical model for hydrogen leakage, dispersion, and explosion in representative accident scenarios using real-vehicle experimental data from a manufacturer-provided HFCV. [...] Read more.
Safety concerns regarding hydrogen dispersion, fire, and explosion hinder the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs). This study developed and validated a numerical model for hydrogen leakage, dispersion, and explosion in representative accident scenarios using real-vehicle experimental data from a manufacturer-provided HFCV. The analysis examined the effects of leakage orifice diameter, leakage orientation, vehicle motion, and ignition timing on hazard evolution. Large-orifice leakage accelerates flammable cloud formation and expands the hazard range, whereas small-orifice leakage prolongs cloud persistence. Vehicle motion enhances turbulent mixing and reduces near-field accumulation. Immediate ignition produces a jet flame with a maximum radiative heat-flux impact distance of 44.1 m, whereas delayed ignition increases explosion severity and generates a peak overpressure of 0.14 bar. These findings support the risk assessment and safety design of HFCVs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Mitigation of Hydrogen-Fuelled Fire Hazards)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop