Experimental investigation on effects of CO2 additions on spontaneous ignition of high-pressure hydrogen during its sudden release into a tube

Abstract

Hydrogen is expected to be an alternative energy carrier in the future. High-pressure hydrogen storage option is considered as the best choice. However, spontaneous ignition tends to occur if hydrogen is suddenly released from a high-pressure tank into a tube. In order to improve the safety of hydrogen application, an experimental investigation on effects of CO2 additions (5%, 10% and 15% volume concentration) on the spontaneous ignition of high-pressure hydrogen during its sudden expansion inside the tube has been conducted. Pressure transducers are used to record the pressure variation and light sensors are employed to detect the possible spontaneous ignition. It is found that the shock wave overpressure and the mean shock wave speed are almost the same inside the tube for different CO2 additions under the close burst pressures. For cases with more CO2 additions, the ignition detected time is longer and the average speed of the flame, the maximum value of light signals and the detected duration time of spontaneous ignition are smaller. It is shown that minimum burst pressure required for spontaneous ignition increase 1.47 times for 15% CO2 additions. The minimum burst pressure required for spontaneous ignition increases from 4.37 MPa (0% CO2) up to 6.41 MPa (15% CO2). With the increasing of CO2 additions, it requires longer distance and longer time for hydrogen and oxygen to mix and thus longer ignition delay distance/time. The results showed that additions of CO2 to air have a good suppressing effect on hydrogen spontaneous ignition.