Investigation of small-scale unintended releases of hydrogen: Buoyancy effects

Measurements were performed in small-scale hydrogen leaks to characterize the dimensional properties and flow characteristics of the resulting ignitable hydrogen cloud. The data are intended to provide a technological basis for determining hazardous length scales associated with the formation of ignitable mixtures due to unintended releases. In contrast to a previous study where momentum-dominated releases were considered, the present study focuses on smaller-scale releases at lower flow rates where buoyancy becomes important. A turbulent jet flow is selected as representative of releases in which the leak geometry is circular. Laser-based Rayleigh scattering is used to characterize the hydrogen concentration field downstream of the leak. Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is also used to characterize the flow velocity. Time-averaged mean and fluctuating hydrogen concentration statistics are presented and compared with results in momentum-dominated flows to elucidate the effects of buoyancy on the H2 dispersion process. Over the range of Froude numbers investigated (Fr = 268, 152 and 99), increasing effects of buoyancy are seen as the Fr is reduced and at downstream locations where the influence of buoyancy increases relative to jet momentum. The primary effect of buoyancy is to increase the centerline decay rate of the time-averaged H2 mass fraction relative to momentum-dominated flows. Acceleration due to buoyancy also results in a slower decay of the time-averaged axial velocity component along the centerline. Radial profiles of the time-averaged H2 mass fraction also collapse onto the same curves as results in momentum-dominated flows when plotted against the same similarity/scaling variables. While buoyancy is found to have a negligible effect on centerline velocity fluctuations, the maximum H2 mass fraction fluctuation intensity increases by 70 percent in the buoyant regime and the peak value shifts from the mixing region to the jet centerline. The database presented should provide a good test for the validation of CFD models being developed to predict unintended hydrogen releases under conditions where buoyancy is important.