Assessment of detonation hazards in high-pressure hydrogen storage from chemical sensitivity analysis

In this study, a series of detonation sensitivity analyses have been carried out to assess detonation hazards in hydrogen-air mixture. The present investigation in particular concerns with the effect of elevated initial pressure on the detonation sensitivity, which stems from the renewing interest in preventing possible explosion scenario in hydrogen economy when high-pressure hydrogen storage facilities are contaminated with air. From the steady ZND analyses based on a recently updated comprehensive kinetic mechanism of hydrogen combustion by Li et al. [Int J Chem Kinet 2004;36:566-75] and using improved semi-empirical models, various dynamic parameters, i.e., characteristic cell size and direct initiation energy, for hydrogen-air detonations are estimated and assessed against available experimental data. Results for the hydrogen-air detonation sensitivity indicated that from a purely chemical kinetics consideration, the probability of having a detonation of hydrogen-air mixture at elevated initial pressure is not higher than in other hydrocarbon fuels at elevated initial pressure.