Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft INVESTIGATION OF HYDROGEN DISTRIBUTION AND COMBUSTION IN ACCIDENT SCENARIOS Introduction Analysis steps I. Mixture generation II. Hazard evaluation III. Combustion simulation IV. Consequence analysis V. Experimental research Summary Applications W. Breitung, A. Kotchourko Institute for Nuclear and Energy Technologies (IKET) Research Center Karlsruhe, Germany (FZK) Technologietag ERCOFTAC Süddeutschland, Stuttgart, 30. September 2005
OBJECTIVES Explosions of large amount of combustible gases mixed with air are responsible for the major part of losses and damages among many industrial accidents Growing utilization of hydrogen as future energy carrier requires better understanding of hydrogen related safety aspects The outcome of a hydrogen related accident depends on many parameters and complex physics Need to develop a mechanistic understanding and complete modeling procedure - to predict accident progress and consequences - to develop efficient mitigation measures - to support development of safe hydrogen technologies - to provide reliable data base for rules, codes and standards The presentation describes approach and current status of FZK analysis methodology
ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY FZK develops numerical codes and methods for consistent analysis of hydrogen behavior in accident scenarios, four main steps: COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURE GENERATION CRITERIA FOR HAZARD POTENTIAL COMBUSTION SIMULATION CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS Problem geometry Flammability Mitigation y Yes Flame acceleration y Yes Slow deflagration FLAME3D Mechanical and thermal loads Scenario Sources Detonationtransition Detonation on -set y Yes Fast turbulent deflagration COM3D Structural response SDO ABAQUS Distribution GASFLOW GP-Program Detonation DET3D Human effects More than 150 person-years of experience
1. MIXTURE GENERATION Release of cold GH 2 (22K) from LH 2 -tank at bottom of vehicle in garage 1 W energy deposition, 170 g GH 2 /d, 5 x 34g H 2 releases, effect of release rate on risk? COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURE GENERATION Problem geometry Mitigation Scenario Sources Distribution GASFLOW Case1: 3,4 g H 2 /s For 10 s
MIXTURE GENERATION : Case 2 GH 2 source of 0,34 g H 2 /s for 100s duration
MIXTURE GENERATION :Case 2 Calculated H 2 -concentration field for 0.34 g H 2 /s release in a garage, x = 0,6 vol% 20 s 50 s 80 s 120 s 0.00 1.33 2.66 4.00 vol% H 2
II. HAZARD POTENTIAL What hazard is actually presented by the calculated H 2 -air distribution? CRITERIA FOR HAZARD POTENTIAL Flammability yyes Flame acceleration yyes Detonation Detonation- -set transition y Yes Hydrogen hazard is mainly determined by the fastest possible combustion regime of the mixture - slow deflagration - fast turbulent deflagration - detonation Transition criteria were developed to estimate conservative (fastest) combustion regime possible for a given H 2 -air mixture and geometry - inert /slow - slow/fast - deflagration/detonation GP-Program
GP-CODE All criteria implemented in interactive GP-code f( p 0, T 0, x H2, x O2, x H2O, x N2,D) 0.8 0.7 p = 0.1 MPa 0 T 0 = 400 K Example for H 2 -air-steam mixtures - mixtures above 60 vol% are inert - flammability and flame acceleration limits nearly coincide on the rich side - the DDT limit is scale dependent, in larger system (D) leaner mixtures can undergo a deflagration-todetonation transition Volume fraction hydrogen 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 D = 1m D = 5m DDT limit Flame acceleration limit Flammability limit 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 Volume fraction steam
Criteria are evaluated on-line in GASFLOW from known H 2 -distribution CASE 1: - significant and stable volume of combustible mixture - potential for flame acceleration and DDT exists during and shortly after release CASE 2: - only small volume is able to support deflagrations, disappears shortly after end of release - no DDT hazard - inherent mixing mechanisms sufficient to dilute source H 2 release in confined spaces above a certain critical rate (here 0.3 g/s) requires additional measures for hazard control HAZARD FOR GARAGE EXAMPLE 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 CASE 1 CASE 2 d (cm) cc 0 0 0.8 10 20 30 40 50 60 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0 3 10 20 30 40 50 60 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 3.4 g H 2 /s, 10s.34 g H 2 /s, 100s 0 0 10 20 30 DDT V (m³) fa no DDT D 7λ 40 50 60 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 d (cm) cc 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 0.12 0.10 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 V (m³) fa 0 0 50 100 150 200 250 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 no DDT D 7λ 0 0 50 100 150 200 250
III. COMBUSTION SIMULATION COMBUSTION SIMULATION Different physics involved in different combustion modes Slow deflagration FLAME3D Fast turbulent deflagration COM3D Three CFD codes under development and in use at FZK Codes model stable combustion regimes, while transition phenomena are covered by criteria Detonation DET3D
LOCAL EXPLOSION IN CONFINED VOLUME COMBUSTIBLE MIXTURE GENERATION Plant geometry Mitigation Scenario Sources Distribution GASFLOW CRITERIA FOR HAZARD POTENTIAL Flammability y Flame acceleration y Test chamber at FZK for hydrogen release and local explosion experiments in confined spaces under controlled flow conditions - volume 160 m 3 - air ventilation up to 24,000 m 3 /h Air supply Duct work Detonation on -set y GP-Program COMBUSTION SIMULATION Slow deflagration FLAME3D Fast turbulent deflagration COM3D Detonation DET3D CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS Structural stability against dynamic pressure loads tested under conservative conditions - stoichiometric, homogeneous mixture - locally concentrated (2-16g H 2 ) - obstacles to reach high flame speeds Test chamber Lower compartment Mechanical and thermal loads Structural response ABAQUS Human effects
COM3D SIMULATION FOR FZK TEST CHAMBER Fast local turbulent H 2 -air deflagration in FZK test chamber - 8 g H 2 - p0 = 0.1 MPa - x H2 = 29.8 vol% Numerical simulation COM3D: x = 3.45 cm, total ~ 7 10 6 cells Fast combustion followed by detonation of 8 g H 2 in stoichiometric mixture in cube 69 x 69 x 69 cm
IV. CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS Output of CFD combustion calculation allows to estimate the consequences CONSEQUENCE ANALYSIS Mechanical and thermal loads Structural response SDO ABAQUS Human effects Overpressure [bar] Overpressure [bar] 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0-0.1-0.2 Time [s] Experiment Simulation 8g H 2-0.3 0.18 0.19 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0-0.1 Sensor 20 wall, near Sensor 14 floor Experiment Simulation Overpressure [bar] Overpressure [bar] 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.0-0.1 0.6 0.4 0.2-0.0 Experiment Simulation 8g H 2 0.19 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.24 Time [s] Sensor 6 upper corner Sensor 16 wall, far Experiment Simulation -0.2 8g H 2 0.19 0.20 0.21 0.22 Time [s] Time [s] Example: Pressure loads of 8g H 2 test in FZK facility 8g H 2-0.2 0.19 0.20 0.21 0.22 0.23 0.24
STRUCTURAL RESPONSE: Test chamber results Response of FZK test chamber simulated with ABAQUS - input : P(t) at 8000 locations (COM3D ABAQUS) - output: stress and strain Maximum displacement in frame (mm) Maximum stress in inner wall (MPa) Result: Walls and framework structure can confine tested fast local combustions, limiting H 2 mass estimated with model
STRUCTURAL RESPONSE: Damage thresholds for civil buildings Comparison of measured blast wave parameters in FZK test chamber to known damage limits of civil buildings. 10 6 p + I + Positive overpressure p + [Pa] 10 5 10 4 Unconfined gaseous detonations FZK experiments 2g H 2 16g H 2 glass breakage 2g H 2 16g H 2 Partial demolition 50%-75% of walls destroyed Major structural damage, some wrenched load bearing members fails Minor structural damage wrenched joints and partitions t 10 3 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 Positive impulse I + [Pa*s] p-i data from W.E. Baker et al
HUMAN EFFECTS: Injury thresholds Comparison of measured blast wave parameters in FZK test chamber to known injury thresholds 10 6 p + I + Unconfined gaseous detonations 2g H 2 16g H 2 Lung rupture t Positive overpressure p + [Pa] 10 5 10 4 10 3 FZK experiments 2g H 2 16g H 2 NASA ear drum rupture Temporary ear threshold shift Skull fracture (60 kg body weight) 10 0 10 1 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 5 Positive impulse I + [Pa*s] 50% ear drum rupture Lethality from whole body impact (60 kg body weight) -Threshold data converted from W.E.Baker et al - Gaseous detonation data from S.B. Dorofeev et al
HUMAN EFFECTS: Injury thresholds Comparison of measured blast wave parameters p + and T + in FZK test chamber to known injury thresholds 10 6 p + I + T + =2I + / p + Unconfined gaseous detonations 16g H 2 Lung rupture T + t Positive overpressure p + [Pa] 10 5 10 4 10 3 2g H 2 FZK experiments 2g H 2 16g H 2 NASA ear drum rupture Temporary ear threshold shift 50% ear drum rupture Skull fracture (60 kg body weight) 10-4 10-3 10-2 10-1 10 0 10 1 Positive impulse duration T + [s] Lethality from whole body impact (60 kg body weight) -Threshold data converted from W.E.Baker et al - Gaseous detonation data from S.B. Dorofeev et al
TEST SITE AT FZK FOR HYDROGEN EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH Experimental studies: Development of transition criteria Validation of CFD tools Development of scaling methodology Facility for H 2 release and distribution studies under controlled flow conditions Large-scale facilities for combustion studies Combustion tubes
LARGE-SCALE COMBUSTION EXPERIMENTS Facilities of scales relevant to industrial dimensions Multipurpose vessels for research connected with combustion processes in large scales A3 30 m 3 A1-100 bar A3-60 bar A1 110 m 3
MEDIUM-SCALE COMBUSTION EXPERIMENTS Study of combustion, turbulent deflagration, DDT and detonation Partially vented geometry Confined geometry
SUMMARY A mechanistic procedure for analysis of hydrogen behavior was developed. The methodology is based on 3D CFD tools. It addresses: - prediction of accident consequences - development of efficient mitigation measures - support of safe use of hydrogen technologies Two examples for hydrogen behavior in confined spaces were presented - hydrogen release is safe up to a critical release rate, which depends on details and which can be evaluated - structural damage of the enclosure can be modeled (ABAQUS) - combustion of up to 16 g hydrogen can cause : - glass fraction but no structure damage to normal civil buildings - ear damage but no lung rupture - blast effects from local explosions (2-16g H 2 ) are restricted to ear damage