DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL EVALUATION PROTOCOL FOR CFD ANALYSIS OF HYDROGEN SAFETY ISSUES – THE SUSANA PROJECT

The “SUpport to SAfety aNAlysis of Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies” (SUSANA) project aims to support stakeholders using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for safety engineering design and assessment of FCH systems and infrastructure through the development of a model evaluation protocol. The protocol covers all aspects of safety assessment modelling using CFD, from release, through dispersion to combustion (self-ignition, fires, deflagrations, detonations, and Deflagration to Detonation Transition - DDT) and not only aims to enable users to evaluate models but to inform them of the state of the art and best practices in numerical modelling. The paper gives an overview of the SUSANA project, including the main stages of the model evaluation protocol and some results from the on-going benchmarking activities.JRC.F.2-Energy Conversion and Storage Technologie

Best practice guidelines in numerical simulations and CFD benchmarking for hydrogen safety applications

Correct use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools is essential in order to have confidence in the results. A comprehensive set of Best Practice Guidelines (BPG) in numerical simulations for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen applications has been one of the main outputs of the SUSANA project. These BPG focus on the practical needs of engineers in consultancies and industry undertaking CFD simulations or evaluating CFD simulation results in support of hazard/risk assessments of hydrogen facilities, as well as on the needs of regulatory authorities. This contribution presents a summary of the BPG document. All crucial aspects of numerical simulations are addressed, such as selection of the physical models, domain design, meshing, boundary conditions and selection of numerical parameters. BPG cover all hydrogen safety relative phenomena, i.e. release and dispersion, ignition, jet fire, deflagration and detonation. A series of CFD benchmarking exercises are also presented serving as examples of appropriate modelling strategies.JRC.C.1-Energy Storag

HYMEP The Model Evaluation Protocol for CFD analysis of hydrogen safety issues

Hydrogen safety issues must be addressed in order to ensure that the wide spread deployment and use of hydrogen and fuel cell systems and relevant infrastructure can occur with the same or lower level of hazards and associated risks compared to conventional fossil fuel technologies. CFD is increasingly used to perform safety analysis of potential incident/accident scenarios related to the production, storage, distribution and of hydrogen and its use in fuel cells. CFD is a powerful numerical tool that can provide useful data and insights about the relevant physical phenomena but it also requires a high level of competence and knowledge in order to be used in a meaningful professional way. To apply CFD with a high level of confidence on the validity and accuracy of the simulation results, two main issues have to be addressed: the capability of the CFD models to accurately describe the relevant physical phenomena and the capability of the CFD users to follow the correct modelling and simulation strategy. In this context, a workshop with internationally recognised experts in the field of hydrogen safety was held at the Institute for Energy and Transport of the Joint Research Centre in The Netherlands in order to identify the gaps in CFD modelling and simulation of hydrogen release and combustion. The main outcomes of the workshop were included in a report entitled “Prioritisation of Research and Development for modelling the safe production, storage, delivery and use of hydrogen” [1]. One of the main gaps identified was the lack of a Model Evaluation Protocol (MEP) for hydrogen technologies such as the MEP for LNG technologies by Ivings et al. [2-3]. The SUSANA project (co-funded by the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking) aims to meet this need by producing a Model Evaluation Protocol for hydrogen technologies safety (HYMEP) [4]. The project brings together partners with an established track-record in hydrogen safety, along with fundamental and industry-driven CFD research from across Europe. The partners include stakeholders from research organizations (KIT-G, NCSRD, JRC), universities (Ulster University - UU), industry (AREVA/HELION, Element Energy), and regulators (HSE/HSL). The project started in September 2013 and will be completed in August 2016. The CFD Model Evaluation Protocol aims to be the reference document for all CFD users in the field of hydrogen technologies safety, both to assess their capability of correctly using the codes and to evaluate the accuracy of the CFD models themselves. The HYMEP is expected to be beneficial for all the CFD developers (academia and research institutes) and users (like industry and consultancy companies) but also for regulatory/certifying bodies that have to permit hydrogen vehicles and/or hydrogen systems, infrastructure and facilities. Regulatory/certifying bodies have a document that helps them evaluate whether the CFD analysis supporting permission requests is scientifically sound.JRC.C.1-Energy Storag

Achievements of the EC network of excellence Hysafe

International audienceIn many areas European research has been largely fragmented. To support the required integration and to focus and coordinate related research efforts the European Commission created a new instrument, the Networks of Excellences (NoEs). The goal of the NoE HySafe has been to provide the basis to facilitate the safe introduction of hydrogen as an energy carrier by removing the safety related obstacles. The prioritisation of the HySafe internal project activities was based on a phenomena identification and ranking exercise (PIRT) and expert interviews. The identified research headlines were "Releases in (partially) confined areas", "Mitigation" and "Quantitative Risk Assessment". Along these headlines existing or planned research work was re-orientated and slightly modified, to build up three large internal research projects "InsHyde", "HyTunnel", and "HyQRA". In InsHyde realistic indoor hydrogen leaks and associated hazards have been investigated to provide recommendations for the safe use of indoor hydrogen systems including mitigation and detection means. The appropriateness of available regulations, codes and standards (RCS) has been assessed. Experimental and numerical work was conducted to benchmark simulation tools and to evaluate the related recommendations. HyTunnel contributed to the understanding of the nature of the hazards posed by hydrogen vehicles inside tunnels and its relative severity compared to other fuels. In HyQRA quantitative risk assessment strategies were applied to relevant scenarios in a hydrogen refuelling station and the performance was compared to derive also recommendations. The integration process was supported by common activities like a series of workshops and benchmarks related to experimental and numerical work. The networks research tools were categorised and published in online catalogues. Important integration success was provided by commonly setting up the International Conference on Hydrogen Safety, the first academic education related to hydrogen safety and the Hydrogen Safety Handbook. Finally, the network founded the International Association for Hydrogen Safety, which opens the future networking to all interested parties on an international level