Role of Initial Conditions in Unstably Stratified Hydrogen-Air Mixing Zones
Abstract
Characterization of the transient development of flammability zones from hydrogen leakage is often investigated through computational fluid dynamics simulation in order to predict the onset of hazardous ignition conditions. Without explicit consideration given to the effect of the initial conditions however, the generality of these efforts to predict the time-dependent mixing may suffer. In the present work, simulations of unstably-stratified hydrogen and air with various initial conditions allow the quantification of sensitivity of hydrogen dispersion to initial conditions. Development of turbulent mixing between a binary hydrogen-air system and propagation of flammability zones is studied using third-order accurate implicit large-eddy simulation. We find large wavelengths in the initial conditions contribute to faster propagation of the fuel first-arrival boundary and lower flammability envelope-important when considering accidental ignition. The results provide data necessary for predictive mix models of flammability zones propagation within enclosures.
Recommended Citation
A. A. Haley and A. Banerjee, "Role of Initial Conditions in Unstably Stratified Hydrogen-Air Mixing Zones," International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Elsevier, Aug 2011.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.06.001
Department(s)
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Sponsor(s)
National Science Foundation (U.S.). CBET-Fluid Dynamics program
Keywords and Phrases
Initial Conditions; Transient Hydrogen Mixing
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0360-3199
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2011 Elsevier, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Aug 2011
