HYMEP The Model Evaluation Protocol for CFD analysis of hydrogen safety issues

Hydrogen safety issues must be addressed in order to ensure that the wide spread deployment and use of hydrogen and fuel cell systems and relevant infrastructure can occur with the same or lower level of hazards and associated risks compared to conventional fossil fuel technologies. CFD is increasingly used to perform safety analysis of potential incident/accident scenarios related to the production, storage, distribution and of hydrogen and its use in fuel cells. CFD is a powerful numerical tool that can provide useful data and insights about the relevant physical phenomena but it also requires a high level of competence and knowledge in order to be used in a meaningful professional way. To apply CFD with a high level of confidence on the validity and accuracy of the simulation results, two main issues have to be addressed: the capability of the CFD models to accurately describe the relevant physical phenomena and the capability of the CFD users to follow the correct modelling and simulation strategy. In this context, a workshop with internationally recognised experts in the field of hydrogen safety was held at the Institute for Energy and Transport of the Joint Research Centre in The Netherlands in order to identify the gaps in CFD modelling and simulation of hydrogen release and combustion. The main outcomes of the workshop were included in a report entitled “Prioritisation of Research and Development for modelling the safe production, storage, delivery and use of hydrogen” [1]. One of the main gaps identified was the lack of a Model Evaluation Protocol (MEP) for hydrogen technologies such as the MEP for LNG technologies by Ivings et al. [2-3]. The SUSANA project (co-funded by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) aims to meet this need by producing a Model Evaluation Protocol for hydrogen technologies safety (HYMEP) [4]. The project brings together partners with an established track-record in hydrogen safety, along with fundamental and industry-driven CFD research from across Europe. The partners include stakeholders from research organizations (KIT-G, NCSRD, JRC), universities (Ulster University - UU), industry (AREVA/HELION, Element Energy), and regulators (HSE/HSL). The project started in September 2013 and will be completed in August 2016. The CFD Model Evaluation Protocol aims to be the reference document for all CFD users in the field of hydrogen technologies safety, both to assess their capability of correctly using the codes and to evaluate the accuracy of the CFD models themselves. The HYMEP is expected to be beneficial for all the CFD developers (academia and research institutes) and users (like industry and consultancy companies) but also for regulatory/certifying bodies that have to permit hydrogen vehicles and/or hydrogen systems, infrastructure and facilities. Regulatory/certifying bodies have a document that helps them evaluate whether the CFD analysis supporting permission requests is scientifically sound.

BARALDI Daniele;  MELIDEO Daniele;  KOTCHOURKO Alexei;  REN Ken;  YANEZ Jorge;  JEDICKE Olaf;  KEENAN James;  MAKAROV Dmitriy;  MOLKOV Vladimir;  GIANNISSI Stella;  TOLIAS Ilias;  VENETSANOS Alexander;  COLDRICK Simon;  SLATER Shane;  VERBECKE Frank;  DUCLOS Audrey; 

2016-09-16

Spanish Hydrogen Association

JRC100668

http://www.whec2016.com/index.php,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC100668,