Predicting consequences of large hydrogen jet fires

Modelling and numerical simulation of hydrogen jet fires for industrial safety analysis

Thermal radiation levels from large hydrogen fires can be significantly higher than expected. This is important to know when establishing fire hazard safety distances for hydrogen facilities.  

Reliable calculation tools for hydrogen safety analyses are needed to develop robust safety standards and engineering design to support increased and more widespread use of hydrogen in the society.

This paper describes modelling and simulation of large hydrogen jet fires with DNV’s advanced industrial CFD software KFX®. The simulation results are compared with unique large-scale experiments performed at DNV’s test site at Spadeadam.

This R&D work on KFX and hydrogen fire safety was supported by the Research Council of Norway.