Hydrogen Fuel Tank Fire Exposure Burst Test

Abstract

A fire exposure test was conducted on a 72.4 liter composite (Type HGV-4) hydrogen fuel tank at an initial hydrogen pressure of 34.3 MPa (ca 5000 psi). No Pressure Relief Device was installed on the tank to ensure catastrophic failure for analysis. The cylinder ruptured at 35.7 MPa after a 370 kW fire exposure for 6 min 27 seconds. Blast wave pressures measured along a line perpendicular to the cylinder axis were 18% to 25% less the values calculated from ideal blast wave correlations using a blast energy of 13.4 MJ, which is based on the ideal gas internal energy at the 35.7 MPa burst pressure. The resulting hydrogen fireball maximum diameter of 7.7 m is about 19% less than the value predicted from existing correlations using the 1.64 kg hydrogen mass in the tank.

Simulations of Blast Wave and Fireball Occurring Due to Rupture of High-Pressure Hydrogen Tank

“…The calculated maximum diameter of the fireball is 5.3 m at 1.0 s, which is moderately below the experimentally determined size-7.7 m [8]. A probable cause of this is the insufficient combustion intensity at the beginning of the process, as mentioned previously.…”

“…Figures 7 and 8 illustrate the time-dependence of the temperature and mass fraction of water vapor in the fireball cross-section. In the simulations, the flame is initiated in the vicinity of the ground, where the stagnation conditions and highest generation of turbulence (vorticity) exist, resulting in the combustion rate presented in Equations (7) and (8). On the other hand, in the experiment, the source of ignition is the bonfire test burner.…”

“…Fire exposure tests of Type 3 and Type 4 hydrogen fuel tanks without TPRD were conducted by Weyandt et al [6][7][8]. The stand-alone Type 4 tank in their study had a length of 0.84 m, a diameter of 0.41 m and a volume of 72.4 L. The initial storage pressure in the tank was 35 MPa, and it was installed 0.20 m above the ground.…”

“…An understanding of the consequences of a tank rupture under realistic conditions and the ability to predict associated hazards are challenging safety engineering requirements critical for the effective design of hydrogen storage and infrastructure. Although the consequences of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) tank rupture have been investigated [1][2][3][4][5], few research has been conducted with regard to the hydrogen tank [6][7][8][9][10].…”

“…The objective of this numerical study was to obtain insights into the blast wave and fireball phenomena as a consequence of high-pressure hydrogen storage tank rupture due to fire, and to compare simulation results with experimental results [6][7][8].…”