Abstract
The first investigations concerned with a problem of hydrogen jet ignition, during outflow from a high-pressure vessel were carried out nearly 40 years ago by Wolanski and Wojcicki. The research resulted from a dramatic accident in the Chorzow Chemical Plant Azoty, where the explosion of a synthesis gas made up of a mixture composed of three moles of hydrogen per mole of nitrogen, at 300°C and 30 MPa killed four people. Initial investigation had excluded potential external ignition sources and the main aim of the research was to determine the cause of ignition. Hydrogen is currently considered as a potential fuel for various vehicles such as cars, trucks, buses, etc. Crucial safety issues are of potential concern, associated with the storage of hydrogen at a very high pressure. Indeed, the evidence obtained nearly 40 years ago shows that sudden rupture of a high-pressure hydrogen storage tank or other component can result in ignition and potentially explosion. The aim of the present research is identification of the conditions under which hydrogen ignition occurs as a result of compression and heating of the air by the shock wave generated by discharge of high-pressure hydrogen. Experiments have been conducted using a facility constructed in the Combustion Laboratory of the Institute of Heat Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology. Tests under various configurations have been performed to determine critical conditions for occurrence of high-pressure hydrogen ignition. The results show that a critical pressure exists, leading to ignition, which depends mainly on the geometric configuration of the outflow system, such as tube diameter, and on the presence of obstacles.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Wolanski P.: Mechanism of synthesis gas explosion during outflow from high pressure installation. Chemik Rok XXV(1), 23–27 (1972)
Wolanski, P., Wojcicki, S.: Investigation into the Mechanism of Diffusion Ignition of a Combustible Gas Flowing into Oxidizing Atmosphere, Fourteenth Symposium (International) on Combustion, pp. 1217–1223. Pittsburgh (1973)
Wolanski, P.: Dynamics of Gas Mixtures Ignition, Wydawnictwo Politechniki Warszawskiej (in Polish) (1978)
Golub V.V., Baklanov D.I., Bazhenova T.V., Bragin M.V., Golovastov S.V., Ivanov M.F., Volodin V.V.: Shock-induced ignition of hydrogen gas during accidental or technical opening of high-pressure tanks. J. Loss Prev. Process Indus. 20, 439–446 (2007)
Golub, V.V.: Diffusion self ignition of sudden discharge of hydrogen. In: Proceedings 7th International Symposium on Hazards, Prevention and Mitigation of Industrial Explosions, Sankt Petersburg, Russia, 7–11 July 2008
Mogi T., Kim D., Shiina H., Horiguchi S.: Self-ignition and explosion during discharge of high-pressure hydrogen. J. Loss Prev. Process Indus. 21, 199–204 (2007)
Bond J.: Sources of Ignition: Flammability Characteristics Of Chemicals and Products, pp. 52. Butterworths-Heinemann Ltd, Oxford (1991)
National Research Council: Prudent Practices in the Laboratory: Handling and Disposal of Chemicals, p. 123. National Academy Press, Washington, DC (1995)
Edeskuty F.J., Stewart W.F.: Safety in the Handling of Cryogenic Fuels. Plenum Publishing Corporation, New York (1996) Chapter 7
Liu, Y.-F., Tsaboi, N., Sato, H., Higashino, F., Hayashi, A.K.: Direct numerical simulation on hydrogen fuel jetting from high pressure tank. In: Proceedings of the 20th International Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reacting Systems, Montreal, Canada (2005)
Liu, Y.-F., Tsaboi, N., Sato, H., Higashino, F., Hayashi, A.K.: Numerical analysis of autoignition in high pressure hydrogen jetting into air. In: Proceedings of the 31th International Symposium on Combustion, Heidelberg, Germany (2006)
Dembele, S., Zhang, J., Wen, J.X.: Exploratory study of under-expanded sonic hydrogen jets and jet flames. In: 5th International Seminar on Fire and Explosion Hazards, Edinburgh, UK (2007)
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Communicated by L. Bauwens.
This paper is based on work that was presented at the 22nd International Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems, Minsk, Belarus, July 27–31, 2009.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0), which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Oleszczak, P., Wolanski, P. Ignition during hydrogen release from high pressure into the atmosphere. Shock Waves 20, 539–550 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00193-010-0291-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00193-010-0291-x