Numerical study on helium dispersion and ventilation in a semi-enclosed channel with FLACS-Hydrogen

This presentation is part of the 2022 FLUG Meeting.

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About the presentation

Title: Numerical study on helium dispersion and ventilation in a semi-enclosed channel with FLACS-Hydrogen)

Hydrogen, as an energy source or as energy storage, is a key pathway for achieving net-zero targets. However, to support the safe usage of hydrogen at large scales, further investigations on hydrogen leakage should be pursued. Leakage of gaseous hydrogen, especially in confined spaces, can lead to catastrophic outcomes such as uncontrolled fire and explosion.

The current study presents a set of measurement and CFD data to understand the dispersion of leaked light gas in a semi-confined space to support the adoption of hydrogen. A dispersion chamber with dimensions of 4×0.3×0.3m3 was constructed to investigate a baseline gas leakage scenario. In the experiment, hydrogen gas was substituted with helium gas to reduce risk since they have similar properties.

To model the dispersion of leaked helium, FLACS-CFD is employed, which is a popular computational fluid dynamics code for risk and safety analysis. The result shows that a good agreement between experiment and numerical data has been achieved, which confirms the accuracy of the model, as well as the suitability of the measurement data. The current results will be useful to further enhance the understanding of hydrogen safety aspects.

About the speaker

Hengrui Liu, Postdoctoral Researcher @ UNSW | Research Assistant @ Macquarie University

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Hengrui Liu is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of New South Wales and a Research Assistant at the Macquarie University. He is a FLACS-CFD user and has been working on research within CFD, fire safety, fire suppression, multiphase flow and hydrogen safety. These last three years, Hengrui has published 15 journal papers where he focused on numerical studies for several applications, including ejector systems and water-based fire suppression systems.

About FLUG Meeting

FLACS-CFD User Group (FLUG) provides an opportunity for Gexcon and users of FLACS-CFD to share updates, insights, and experiences.

It consists of engaging case study presentations and the latest information on FLACS-CFD software research and development.

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