Experimental study on flow characteristics and spontaneous ignition produced by pressurized hydrogen release through an Omega-shaped tube into atmosphere

An experimental study on flow characteristics and spontaneous ignition produced by pressurized hydrogen release through an Omega-shaped tube into atmosphere was conducted. This paper aims to study the influence of geometry of downstream tube on the shock waves and the spontaneous ignition of pressurized hydrogen release. The tube used in present experiments is an Omega-shaped tube. It is found that the pressure of the tank will undergo an increase when hydrogen is releasing in the Omega-shaped tube because of the shock wave reflection which is detected by the piezoelectric pressure transducers. The pressure inside the Omega-shaped tube is much higher compared with straight tubes. Additionally, the spontaneous ignition even occurs inside the tube when burst pressure is as low as 2.19 MPa, which means that the geometry of downstream tube does have an important influence on the spontaneous ignition of hydrogen release and using an Omega-shaped tube reduces the critical pressure required for spontaneous ignition. When burst pressure is below 4.09 MPa, the spontaneous ignition occurs inside the tube and flame is formed inside the exhaust chamber but no flame separation happens.