Assessment of similarity relations using helium for prediction of hydrogen dispersion and safety in an enclosure

• New experimental data of helium release in a scaled garage are obtained.
• A CFD model is built and validated using the new helium data.
• Three relations are studied for the similarity between hydrogen and helium leakage.
• The accuracy of these relationships is assessed using the validated CFD model.

The ability to predict the concentration of hydrogen in a partially confined space is significant to the safe use of hydrogen-related products such as fuel cell vehicles. Hydrogen release and subsequent dispersion are frequently investigated using commercially-available computational fluid dynamic (CFD) models once those are calibrated with available experimental data. Due to the explosion safety concerns of using hydrogen, accidental scenarios are often replicated with helium as a hydrogen simulant in experiments. Currently, there is no validated, theoretical analogy to correlate the helium data in order to predict the spatial and temporal distribution of hydrogen in the enclosure. The aim of this paper is to assess different theoretical relationships for the similarity between hydrogen and helium leakage in an enclosure. Experiments were first carried out to obtain measured data with helium leakage in a set of scenarios and to validate the present CFD model. Three methods, namely equal volumetric flow rate, equal buoyancy and a newly proposed correlation derived from equal concentration, were employed to determine the equivalent hydrogen release rate, using which the validated CFD model was then used, with the physical property values for hydrogen, to stimulate hydrogen dispersion as compared to that of helium. The accuracy of these different methods at different stage of release and location is discussed. The present result thus provides a guide when using helium experiment to validate hydrogen simulation in different scenarios, which is of importance to the investigation of hydrogen safety.