Evaluation of explosion hazards from pressurized hydrogen gas releases

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Hydrogen gas is currently proposed as an ideal clean fuel for use in internal combustion engines and fuel-cell technologies, an area of active research in Canada. A principal concern is the required explosion safety associated with the storage and handling of the pressurized hydrogen gas, which is highly reactive, diffuses very fast and typically has to be compressed at very high pressures due to its low energy density. Previous attempts at characterizing and modeling the explosion hazards of transient gas releases from storage tanks and distribution lines have failed to identify serious ignition potentials involving the actions of shocks during the transient releases of the pressurized fuel. The present proposed research is concerned with the thorough evaluation, experimental testing and modeling of the explosion phenomena involved during the sudden release of combustible gases into air in confined and unconfined spaces and the potential for shock-enhanced ignition by shock compression and shock enhanced mixing of the released gases.