Safety of Laboratories for New Hydrogen Techniques

In this paper, a case of hydrogen release in a typical research laboratory for the characterisation of hydrogen solid-state storage materials has been considered. The laboratory is equipped with various testing equipments for the assessment of hydrogen capacity in materials typically in the 1 to 200 bar pressure range and temperatures up to 500°C. Hydrogen is delivered at 200 bar by a 50 l gas bottle and a compressor located outside the laboratory. The safety measures directly related to hydrogen hazard consist in a distributed ventilation of the laboratory and air extraction fume hoods located on top of each instrument. Goal of this work is the modelling of hydrogen accidental release in a real laboratory case, in order to provide a more fundamental basis for the laboratory safety design and assist the decision on the number and position of the safety sensors. The computational fluid dynamics code (CFD) ANSYS-CFX has been selected in order to perform the numerical investigations. Two basic accidental release scenarios have been assumed both at 200 bar: a major leak corresponding to a guillotine breaking of the hydrogen distribution line and a smaller leak typical for a not properly tight junction.

HEITSCH Matthias;  BARALDI Daniele;  MORETTO Pietro;  WILKENING Heinz; 

2008-01-29

Fundacion INASMET

JRC37337

http://conference.ing.unipi.it/ichs/,    http://conference.ing.unipi.it/ichs/fileadmin/template/ichs/ICHS_Final_Programme.pdf,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC37337,