Abstract
For the sake of the increasing demand of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, there are more concerns on the safety of hydrogen refueling stations. As one of the key pieces of equipment, the hydrogen dispenser has drawn attention on this aspect since it involves massive manual operations and may be bothered by a high probability of failure. In this paper, a numerical study is conducted to simulate the possible leakage events of the hydrogen dispenser based on a prototype in China whose working pressure is 70 MPa. The leakage accident is analyzed with respect to leakage sizes, leak directions, and the time to stop the leakage. It is found that, due to the large mass flow rate under such high pressure, the leak direction and the layout of the components inside the dispenser become insignificant, and the ignitable clouds will form inside the dispenser in less than 1 s if there is a leakage of 1% size of the main tube. The ignitable clouds will form near the vent holes outside the dispenser, which may dissipate quickly if the leakage is stopped. On the other hand, the gas inside the dispenser will remain ignitable for a long time, which asks for a design with no possible ignition source inside. The results can be useful in optimizing the design of the dispenser, regarding the reaction time and sensitivity requirements of the leakage detector, the size and amount of vent holes, etc.
Highlights
Due to the development and popularization of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in recent years, the hydrogen refueling station (HRS), as the essential infrastructure for commercialization, is highly sponsored by governments around the world [1]
The potential safety issues of the HRS are the blast pressure and jet flame caused by the ignition of hydrogen stored in high-pressure devices, such as 90 MPa hydrogen compressor, 70 MPa hydrogen storage vessel, and 70 MPa hydrogen dispenser
This study presents an investigation on the events of hydrogen leakage of the dispenser under 70 MPa pressure
Summary
Due to the development and popularization of the hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in recent years, the hydrogen refueling station (HRS), as the essential infrastructure for commercialization, is highly sponsored by governments around the world [1]. The higher working pressure of the equipment in the HRS is required for the sake of the continuous improvement of the hydrogen storage pressure for the range of the vehicles [3]. Hydrogen leakage and diffusion are always a potential risk. According to an early study regarding the risk in HRS [4,5], the consequence severity of various failure scenarios has been evaluated. The potential safety issues of the HRS are the blast pressure and jet flame caused by the ignition of hydrogen stored in high-pressure devices, such as 90 MPa hydrogen compressor, 70 MPa hydrogen storage vessel, and 70 MPa hydrogen dispenser. With respect to the safety of HRS, Qian et al [7]
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