A fueling station is provided with apparatus for preventing accidental fires including communication with the person performing the fueling operation and preventing fuel delivery unless the person performing the fueling operation is safely purged of static electricity. Also a vehicle is provided with static discharge pad apparatus for safely discharging static electricity of a person leaving the vehicle.
A driver interactive system to indirectly monitor hydrogen fuel cell vehicle electrical charge potential through vehicle to ground resistance measurements, and to permit refueling only when vehicle to ground resistance does not exceed a predetermined safe level thereby reducing the possibility of a static discharge during the refill of high pressure storage tanks in hydrogen powered vehicles.
A fueling environment's safety is improved by adding static charge sensors to the fuel dispenser and its peripherals. The static charge sensors detect static charge proximate the fuel dispenser and provide an indication of the static charge to a threshold detector. If the static charge is above a predetermined threshold, one or more safety devices may be activated to disperse or reduce the amount of hydrocarbon vapors proximate the fuel dispenser. Reduction in the amount of hydrocarbon vapors proximate the fuel dispenser helps reduce the risk of harm from the static charge.
