Large-scale investigations of the thermal radiation of hydrogen jet flames

For industrial applications dealing with hydrogen, the definition of safety distances and the assessment of possible hazards emanating from releases is mandatory. Since hydrogen is usually stored and transported under pressure, one scenario to be considered is the momentum driven release of hydrogen from a leakage with subsequent ignition. In this scenario, the emitted heat radiation from the resulting jet flame to the surroundings has to be determined to define adequate safety distances. For hydrocarbon flames, different jet flame models are available to assess the hazards resulting from an ignited jet release. Since hydrogen flames differ from hydrocarbon flames in their combustion behavior, it has to be checked if these models are also applicable for hydrogen. To evaluate the accuracy of these models for hydrogen jet flames, tests with a horizontal outlet at large-scale are carried out at the BAM Test Site for Technical Safety (BAM-TTS). Herein, the flame geometry and the heat radiation at defined locations in the surroundings are recorded for varying release parameters such as release pressure (currently up to max. 250 bar), mass flow (up to max. 0.175 kg/s) at an outlet diameter of 30 mm (with an upstream nozzle of 7.7 mm). The challenge here is the characterization of the flame geometry in an open environment and its impact on the thermal radiation. Existing heat radiation data from the literature are mostly based on unsteady outflow conditions. For a better comparability with the steady state jet flame models, the experiments presented here are focused on ensuring a constant mass flow over the release duration (currently 120 s) to obtain a stationary jet flame. In addition, stationary outflow tests with hydrocarbons (methane) were also carried out, which are intended to serve as reference tests for checking flame models based on hydrocarbon data. The comparison of the flame geometry shows that hydrogen jet flames with the same outlet mass flow have a greater flame length (average deviation of 15 %) but a smaller flame diameter than methane jet flames (average deviation of 17%). Conclusions regarding thermal radiation show that the proportion of total combustion energy emitted as thermal radiation is lower for hydrogen ( x rad = 0.04-0.09) than for methane ( x rad = 0.06-0.1). A comparison of the surface emissive power (SEP) of the jet flame shows a SEP range of 7 kW/m2-15 kW/m2 for hydrogen and 3 kW/m2- 9,5 kW/m2 for methane.