Safety Issues Surrounding the Use and Operation of Compressed Natural Gas Vehicles

With more and more fleet vehicles being converted to compressed natural gas operation, concerns have arisen about the safety of their fuel systems and the need for regulations to ensure safe operation. The potential for widespread operation of vehicles using compressed natural gas adds urgency to these concerns.

Most of the safety concerns revolve around the high-pressure storage and fuel lines present in existing systems. Specific items in question are: the need for high-pressure automatic fuel cutoff switches, vehicle disablement during refueling, the need for methane sensors, cylinder specifications and venting requirements, location of refueling points, and system crash-worthiness. This paper examines these concerns.