Abstract
Hydrogen as a fuel or as an industrial commodity is being used presently. Its storage and transportation is handled in various ways. Liquid hydrogen is usually stored in standard storage tanks at many industrial sites. A storage tank, otherwise safe, can explode due to a fast process of vaporizing the liquid hydrogen and thus over-pressurizing the storage tank to the point of rupture. The vaporization of liquid hydrogen faster than desired can be caused by a good thermal link between the inner container and the outer jacket of the storage tank. The amount of heat and the heat flux needed to vaporize the amount of liquid hydrogen to produce the required amount of rupture pressure of the inner container and outer jacket can be predicted from the specifications of the storage tank. A theoretical model for these predictions will be presented with appropriate assumptions made and detailed calculations. A case study of liquid hydrogen explosion will be discussed for illustration. The probable cause of liquid hydrogen explosion is obtained by applying this theoretical model.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 35-43 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | International Journal of Hydrogen Energy |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1989 |