Barrier Optimization by Optical Analysis of Compressed Hydrogen Gas Leaks

摘要

Accidental leakage of compressed hydrogen in fueling stations is a possible scenario resulting from a rupture in the storage tank, damage created by accidents or natural disaster, or defects in pipe fittings and related accessories. Thus, the fuel can exit the storage facility in the form of a jet and create a combustible mixture that can potentially ignite in the presence of an ignition source. In this study, the flow structure for different jet configurations is visualized in a laboratory environment using the high speed rainbow schlieren technique. Non-reacting helium is used to simulate hydrogen as the jet fluid with supersonic exit conditions. Since the schlieren technique detects density gradients in the flow fields, we are able to investigate transient and steady-state phenomena including fuel accumulation and fuel-air mixing. High-speed schlieren movies are presented to qualitatively visualize the large-scale turbulent structures and to determine how they are affected by operating conditions for different jet configurations.