Experimental and numerical investigation of hydrogen gas auto-ignition

This paper describes hydrogen self-ignition as a result of the formation of a shock wave in front of a high-pressure hydrogen gas propagating in the tube and in the semi-confined space, for which the numerical and experimental investigation was done. An increase in the temperature behind the shock wave leads to the ignition on the contact surface of the mixture of combustible gas with air. The required condition of combustible self-ignition is to maintain the high temperature in the mixture for a time long enough for inflammation to take place. Experimental technique was based on a high-pressure chamber inflating with hydrogen, burst disk failure and pressurized hydrogen discharge into tube of round or rectangular cross section filled with air. Two numerical models involving the gas-dynamic transport of a viscous gas, the detailed kinetics of hydrogen oxidation, turbulence model, and heat exchange were used for calculations of the hydrogen self-ignition both in semi-confined space and a tube.