Probabilistic risk assessment of fire and explosion of onboard high-pressure hydrogen system

Abstract

Hydrogen is regarded as a new energy carrier and has broad application prospects. As the leading field of hydrogen energy application, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) are highly valued in the world. However, due to the flammable and explosive characteristics of hydrogen, its safety issues have attracted much attention, and it is increasingly necessary to understand the possible accident risks of the hydrogen system of HFCVs. In this study, the quantitative risk assessment (QRA) of hydrogen system of HFCV was carried out, and the Bayesian network (BN) analysis model of fire and explosion risk of onboard high-pressure hydrogen system was established. Taking a hydrogen system as an example, BN parameters are quantified based on three quantitative analysis methods: general data, logical judgment and computational simulation, and then the fire and explosion risk and personnel loss degree of the general onboard high-pressure hydrogen system are determined. The results show that when hydrogen release occurs, the probability of explosion is 6.79E-05, the probability of jet fire is 1.53E-04, and the probability of fireball is 5.38E-08. In the case of major damage, there is an 87.15 % probability that an explosion occurred; the reliability of safety protection devices is very important in the process of hydrogen use. It is suggested to optimize the structural layout design of safety components and improve the reliability of protection devices to promote the safe development of hydrogen energy industry such as HFCVs.