Application of the developed CFD analysis methodology to H2 explosion accidents in an open space

Abstract

We developed a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis methodology for predicting an overpressure buildup due to a hydrogen explosion as well as the blast wave propagation from the near field to the far field of the hydrogen explosion site with an error range of about ±30% on the basis of test results with the small-scale obstacle at the stoichiometry condition in an open space in the previous research. In this paper, we confirmed the applicability of the developed CFD analysis method to the evaluation of the safety distance between a VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) and a hydrogen production facility through the CFD analysis conducted on the HTTR (High Temperature Test Reactor) and the hydrogen production facility in JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency) under an assumption of a hypothetical hydrogen explosion. The application study showed physically reasonable results when compared to the test data performed by SRI (Stanford Research Institute) International, and the CFD analysis methodology is a more useful tool in the evaluation of the safety distance than the MEM (Multi-Energy Method) because the MEM has some drawbacks that it cannot predict an asymmetric explosion phenomenon due to a complicated geometry and an ambient temperature effect on an overpressure buildup. Finally, the developed CFD analysis methodology will be applied to evaluate the safety distance between a VHTR and a hydrogen production facility after KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Reaches Institute) completes a design work of a VHTR and a production facility.