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Numerical predictions of cryogenic hydrogen vertical jets

Journal Article · · International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
 [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. National Center for Scientific Research Demokritos, Athens (Greece). Environmental Research Lab.
  2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States). Combustion Research Facility

Here, a comparison of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) predictions with measurements is presented for cryo-compressed hydrogen vertical jets. The stagnation conditions of the experiments are characteristic of unintended leaks from pipe systems that connect cryogenic hydrogen storage tanks and could be encountered at a fuel cell refueling station. Jets with pressure up to 5 bar and temperatures just above the saturation liquid temperature were examined. Comparisons are made to the centerline mass fraction and temperature decay rates, the radial profiles of mass fraction and the contours of volume fraction. Two notional nozzle approaches are tested to model the under-expanded jet that was formed in the tests with pressures above 2 bar. In both approaches the mass and momentum balance from the throat to the notional nozzle are solved, while the temperature at the notional nozzle was assumed equal to the nozzle temperature in the first approach and was calculated by an energy balance in the second approach. The two approaches gave identical results. Satisfactory agreement with the measurements was found in terms of centerline mass fraction and temperature. However, for test with 3 and 4 bar release the concentration was overpredicted. Furthermore, a wider radial spread was observed in the predictions possibly revealing higher degree of diffusion using the k-ε turbulence model. An integral model for cryogenic jets was also developed and provided good results. Finally, a test simulation was performed with an ambient temperature jet and compared to the cold jet showing that warm jets decay faster than cold jets.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Transportation Office. Fuel Cell Technologies Office; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); European Union (EU)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000; NA0003525
OSTI ID:
1667417
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1809561
Report Number(s):
SAND--2020-9077J; 690269
Journal Information:
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Journal Name: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy Journal Issue: 23 Vol. 46; ISSN 0360-3199
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

References (13)

Analytical and experimental investigation of small-scale unintended releases of hydrogen journal February 2008
Hydrogen release from a high pressure gaseous hydrogen reservoir in case of a small leak journal February 2011
Simulation of high-pressure liquid hydrogen releases journal June 2013
Gas dynamics and flow characteristics of highly turbulent under-expanded hydrogen and methane jets under various nozzle pressure ratios and ambient pressures journal April 2016
Ignition and flame characteristics of cryogenic hydrogen releases journal January 2017
Release and dispersion modeling of cryogenic under-expanded hydrogen jets journal March 2017
GASFLOW-MPI: A new 3-D parallel all-speed CFD code for turbulent dispersion and combustion simulations journal March 2017
A comparative CFD assessment study of cryogenic hydrogen and LNG dispersion journal April 2019
Mixing and warming of cryogenic hydrogen releases journal April 2019
Large eddy simulations of the all-speed turbulent jet flow using 3-D CFD code GASFLOW-MPI journal March 2018
Scaling parameters for underexpanded supersonic jets journal December 2002
The Structure and Concentration Decay of High Pressure Jets of Natural Gas journal April 1984
Study of the highly underexpanded sonic jet. journal January 1966

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