Research on hydrogen explosion characteristics and risk analysis in a marine engine room

Abstract

As fires and explosions have become the second leading cause of accidents endangering ships in the past decade, this paper explores the effects of ignition position, equivalence ratio, hydrogen cloud volume, equipment layout on the evolution mechanism of hydrogen explosion overpressure, velocity, and temperature in a marine engine room. Quantitative analysis of the overpressure damage level and the high temperature range, calculating the explosion intensity with the TNO multi-energy method, and summarizing some explosion-proof measures. The results indicate that the maximum overpressure in the upper and lower layer is 390 kPa and 345 kPa. In areas with dense equipment, shock waves reflect multiple paths and the wavefront is broken, but the overpressure retention zone easy form local high pressure. When the equivalence ratio is 1.0 and 1.2, overpressure can cause total destruction to numerous equipment. The larger the hydrogen cloud volume detonated, the higher the explosive energy and damage level. When the hydrogen cloud volume increases from 1 m³ to 18 m³, the explosive intensity rises from level 6 to level 8. The research results can provide data support for quantitative analysis and safety assessment of explosion risk scenarios in large confined spaces using hydrogen energy such as engine rooms.