Much effort has been made to model hydrogen releases from leaks during potential failures of hydrogen storage systems. A reduced-order jet model can be used to quickly characterize these flows, with low computational cost. Notional nozzle models are often used to avoid modeling the complex shock structures produced by the underexpanded jets by determining an "effective" source to produce the observed downstream trends. In this work, the mean hydrogen concentration fields were measured in a series of subsonic and underexpanded jets using a planar laser Rayleigh scattering system. The experimental data was compared to a reduced order jet model for subsonic flows and a notional nozzle model coupled to the jet model for underexpanded jets. The values of some key model parameters were determined by comparisons with the experimental data. The coupled model was also validated against hydrogen concentrations measurements for 100 and 200 bar hydrogen jets with the predictions agreeing well with data in the literature.
The HyRAM software toolkit provides a basis for conducting quantitative risk assessment and consequence modeling for hydrogen infrastructure and transportation systems. HyRAM is designed to facilitate the use of state-of-the-art science and engineering models to conduct robust, repeatable assessments of hydrogen safety, hazards, and risk. HyRAM is envisioned as a unifying platform combining validated, analytical models of hydrogen behavior, a standardized, transparent QRA approach, and engineering models and generic data for hydrogen installations. HyRAM is being developed at Sandia National Laboratories for the U. S. Department of Energy to increase access to technical data about hydrogen safety and to enable the use of that data to support development and revision of national and international codes and standards. This document provides a description of the methodology and models contained in the HyRAM version 1.0. HyRAM 1.0 includes generic probabilities for hydrogen equipment failures, probabilistic models for the impact of heat flux on humans and structures, and computationally and experimentally validated analytical and first order models of hydrogen release and flame physics. HyRAM 1.0 integrates deterministic and probabilistic models for quantifying accident scenarios, predicting physical effects, and characterizing hydrogen hazards (thermal effects from jet fires, overpressure effects from deflagrations), and assessing impact on people and structures. HyRAM is a prototype software in active development and thus the models and data may change. This report will be updated at appropriate developmental intervals.
A cooperative research and development agreement was made between Linde, LLC and Sandia to develop a plan for modifying the Turbulent Combustion Laboratory (TCL) with the necessary infrastructure to produce a cold (near liquid temperature) hydrogen jet. A three-stage heat exchanger will be used to cool gaseous hydrogen using liquid nitrogen, gaseous helium, and liquid helium. A cryogenic line from the heat exchanger into the lab will allow high-fidelity diagnostics already in place in the lab to be applied to cold hydrogen jets. Data from these experiments will be used to develop and validate models that inform codes and standards which specify protection criteria for unintended releases from liquid hydrogen storage, transport, and delivery infrastructure.
Oxy-fuel combustion technology with carbon capture and storage could significantly reduce global CO2 emissions, a greenhouse gas. Implementation can be aided by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, which require an accurate understanding of coal particle kinetics as they go through combustion in a range of environments. To understand the kinetics of pulverized coal char combustion, a heated flow reactor was operated under a wide range of experimental conditions. We varied the environment for combustion by modifying the diluent gas, oxygen concentration, gas flow rate, and temperature of the reactor/reacting gases. Measurements of reacting particle temperatures were made for a sub-bituminous and bituminous coal char, in environments with CO2 or N2 as the diluent gas, with 12, 24, and 36 vol-% oxygen concentration, at 50, 80, 100, and 200 standard liters per minute flowing through the reactor, reactor temperatures of 1200, 1400 K, at pressures slightly above atmospheric. The data shows consistent increasing particle temperature with increased oxygen concentration, reactor temperature and higher particle temperatures for N2 diluent than CO2. We also see the effects of CO2 gasification when different ranks of coal are used, and how the reduction in the temperature due to the CO2 diluent is greater for the coal char that has higher reactivity. Quantitative measurements for temperature are not yet complete due to ongoing calibration of detection systems.