Numerical simulation on the spontaneous ignition of high-pressure hydrogen release through a tube at different burst pressures

Abstract

Spontaneous ignition induced by high-pressure hydrogen release is one of the huge potential risks in the promotion of hydrogen energy. However, the understanding of the microscopic dynamic characteristics of spontaneous ignition, such as ignition initiation and flame development, remains unresolved. In this paper, the spontaneous ignition caused by high-pressure hydrogen release through a tube is investigated by two-dimensional numerical simulation at burst pressure ranging from 2.67 to 15 MPa. Especially, the thermal and species characteristics in hydrogen shock-induced ignition under different strengths of shock wave are discussed carefully. The results show that the stronger shock wave caused by higher burst pressure leads to larger heating area and higher heating temperature inside the tube, increasing the possibility of spontaneous ignition. The shortening effect of initial ignition time and initial ignition distance will decrease with the increase of the burst pressure. Ignition will be initiated when the temperature is raised to about 1350–1400 K under the heating effect of shock waves. It is also found that the ignition occurs under the lean-fuel condition firstly on the upper and lower walls of the tube. The flame branch after spontaneous ignition is observed in the mixing layer. Two ignition kernels show different characteristics during the process of combustion and flow. The evolution of HRR and mass fraction of key species (OH, H, HO2) are also compared to identify the flame front. The mass fraction of H has the better trend with HRR. It is suggested that H radical is a more reasonable choice as the indicator of the flame front.