Numerical investigation on the shock wave propagation, hydrogen/air mixing and spontaneous ignition induced by high-pressure hydrogen release inside the tubes with different shaped cross-sections

Abstract

Hydrogen is regard as one of the most promising primary energy vectors solving the problems of air pollution and energy shortage. However, the spontaneous ignition is a major hazard during the application of high-pressure hydrogen. In this paper, a numerical investigation is conducted to study the shock wave propagation, hydrogen/air mixing and spontaneous ignition induced by high-pressure hydrogen release into the tubes with square, pentagon and circular cross-sections (tube wall angles are 90, 108 and 180° respectively). Large Eddy Simulation, Eddy Dissipation Concept coupling with the detailed hydrogen/air reaction mechanism and 10-step like opening process of burst disk are employed. The numerical results of ignition conditions and positions agree well against the previous experimental results. In the square and pentagon tubes, the inward-reflected and outward-reflected shock wave could be generated simultaneously and interact with each other due to the radial propagation of leading shock wave. In the circular tube, however, the two types of reflected shock generate alternately and the interaction disappears. The higher viscous resistance at wall corner induces the formation of velocity shear layer on the tube wall, which promotes the mixing of hydrogen and air. The increase of the angle of wall corner reduces the flammable mixture with the chemical equilibrium equivalence ratio on the tube wall due to the low viscous resistance and short velocity shear layer. The ignition delay time/distance and combustion intensity decrease with the increase of the angle of wall corner. After the occurrence of spontaneous ignitions in the non-circular tubes, the flame propagates downstream and its length increases rapidly along the wall corner. In addition, larger combustion area could be observed with the decrease of the angle of wall corner.