Explosion of high pressure hydrogen tank in fire: Mechanism, criterion, and consequence assessment

Abstract

This study published experimental data on the catastrophic rupture consequences of high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks in fire environments. It made up for the lack of actual explosion data for verification of the traditional theoretical prediction models and numerical simulations. To reveal the mechanism of high-pressure tank explosion and corresponding characteristics of hydrogen explosion, the fireball parameters, fragment characteristics, and blast wave attenuation patterns resulting from tank rupture were analyzed. The results indicated that the hazard of hydrogen storage tank explosion was coupled with the combined contribution of physical and chemical explosion energies. The failure pressure of a 6.8 L – 30 MPa tank under fire conditions decreased by 60.3 % compared to that at room temperature. Following tank explosion, the duration of hydrogen-air deflagration was only about 2 s, and the maximum diameter of the fireball was nearly 4.48 m. A portion of the mechanical energy generated by tank explosion was converted into the kinetic energy of projectile fragments, with the farthest discovered fragment distance reaching 46.0 m. Additionally, the measured peak overpressure decreased from 875.33 kPa to 7.52 kPa at distances ranging from 2 m to 15 m from the explosion source. To evaluate blast wave overpressure in high-pressure hydrogen tanks for engineering applications, a standardized and generalized procedure was innovatively proposed, and its effectiveness was validated by experimental data. Furthermore, the hazardous distances defined by the peak overpressure were utilized to delineate risk zones. The distances of 61.6 m and 17.3 m from the explosion source were identified as zones without injury to human and without damage to structures, respectively. The proposed methodology and the results of the experiments were of practical importance for ensuring the safety of high-pressure hydrogen storage systems in various applications.