Comparative CFD simulations of a hydrogen fire scenario

Abstract

Hydrogen leakage and fire ignition and propagation are safety concerns in several industrial plants. In a nuclear fusion power plants the separation of hydrogen and tritium takes place in different steps, among which one or more electrolyzers are foreseen. A fire scenario could take place in case of leakage of hydrogen. In such cases, it is important to prevent the spreading of the fire to adjacent rooms and, at the same time, to withstand the pressure load on walls, to avoid radioactivity release in the surrounding environment. A preliminary study has been carried out with the aim of comparing CFD tools for fire scenario simulations involving hydrogen release. Results have been obtained comparing two codes: ANSYS Fluent© and FDS. The two codes have been compared both for hydrogen dispersion and hydrogen fire in a confined environment. The first scenario is aimed to obtaining of volume fraction 3D maps for the evaluation of the different diffusion/transport models. In the second scenario, characterized by a double-ended guillotine break, the fire is supposed to be ignited at the same time of the impact. Simulations have been carried out for the first 60 seconds. Hydrogen concentration, temperature and pressure fields are compared and discussed