Are We Over-Zoning Hydrogen? Hazardous Area Classification in AU/NZ

Why watch it?

Simon Reveley, Principal Risk Consultant at R4Risk, argues at the Hazards Australasia Process Safety Conference 2026 that the Australasian annex to the international hazardous area standard can push hydrogen facilities into unnecessarily conservative zoning, adding cost and complexity over a plant's whole life. A worked example of outdoor hydrogen piping and valves compares the annex with the international standard. He shows how release size, pressure and ventilation shape the assessment, why hydrogen should not be treated like natural gas, and how release-rate and dilution calculations are carried out. Process safety engineers who prepare zoning studies will get the most from it. The annex-specific points apply to Australia and New Zealand, while the IEC-based method transfers to other jurisdictions.

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