Who we are
Never waste a good crisis
In the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic, which precipitated unprecedented declines in oil prices and widespread economic uncertainty, Olav Roald Hansen and his son, Eirik Søreide Hansen, decided to found HYEX Safety. At the time, Olav had 27 years of experience in research and development, as well as consulting in the safety and risk sector, and wanted to shift focus towards the new challenges related to the use of hydrogen and ammonia. As efforts intensify globally to meet climate goals and transition away from fossil fuels, hydrogen and its carriers, such as ammonia, are increasingly seen as pivotal components in decarbonising various sectors. However, the explosive nature of hydrogen and the toxicity of ammonia necessitate a nuanced understanding of the associated risks. A single adverse incident involving these energy carriers could potentially tarnish their reputation, thereby stalling broader adoption.
HYEX Safety
Today HYEX Safety is a specialist consultancy with extensive experience in all safety aspects of hydrogen and ammonia, after working with around 200 projects the last 6 years concerning everything from personal hydrogen-powered vessels, to delivering QRAs for ammonia production facilities. We are specialists on conducting rigorous safety and risk assessments related to hydrogen and its carriers. The firm also specialises in executing complex Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) studies where high levels of precision are imperative. These services encompass incident investigation, evaluative studies for problem identification and design improvement, as well as planning and interpreting experimental data.
Our tools
CFD -faster, better and beyond!
Contrary to common misconceptions that deem Computational Fluid Dynamics as primarily a research domain fraught with exorbitant costs and reliability concerns, HYEX Safety has innovatively optimised this tool. Throughout his career, Olav has emphasised the ability to swiftly prepare and execute simulations, generating precise and often groundbreaking results, beyond the stated application/validity range of the software (relevant for hydrogen is e.g. the modelling of DDT and detonation, tank burst and LH2-dispersion).
- Computational tasks should be defined within a matter of minutes or, at most, a few hours.
- Simulations ought to be completed within a brief time frame, ideally a few hours or, at most, by the following day.
- Utilised CFD tools must adhere to guidelines underpinned by empirical validation and avoid reliance on arbitrary parameters.
- Persist in pushing the boundaries of what is considered achievable.
For workshops focusing on interactive design screening, HYEX Safety has developed a suite of proprietary consequence screening models for hydrogen and ammonia projects. These models provide instant predictions on variables such as outflow rate, dispersion distances, gas accumulation, fire radiation, and blast outcomes. They serve as invaluable tools during workshops and can form the foundation of comprehensive risk assessment studies. When a detailed 3D layout is critical, more accurate CFD predictions are performed using the FLACS software.
