IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i22p12537-d678140.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Simulation of Possible Fire and Explosion Hazards of Clean Fuel Vehicles in Garages

Author

Listed:
  • Chi Wing To

    (Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China)

  • Wan Ki Chow

    (Department of Building Services Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China)

  • Fang Ming Cheng

    (School of Safety Science and Engineering, Xi’an University of Science and Technology, Xi’an 710054, China)

Abstract

Clean fuel is advocated to be used for sustainability. The number of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and hydrogen vehicles is increasing globally. Explosion hazard is a threat. On the other hand, the use of hydrogen is under consideration in Hong Kong. Explosion hazards of these clean fuel (LPG and hydrogen) vehicles were studied and are compared in this paper. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software Flame Acceleration Simulator (FLACS) was used. A car garage with a rolling shutter as its entrance was selected for study. Dispersion of LPG from the leakage source with ignition at a higher position was studied. The same garage was used with a typical hydrogen vehicle leaking 3.4 pounds (1.5 kg) of hydrogen in 100 s, the mass flow rate being equal to 0.015 kgs −1 . The hydrogen vehicle used in the simulation has two hydrogen tanks with a combined capacity of 5 kg. The entire tank would be completely vented out in about 333 s. Two scenarios of CFD simulation were carried out. In the first scenario, the rolling shutter was completely closed and the leaked LPG or hydrogen was ignited at 300 s after leakage. The second scenario was conducted with a gap height of 0.3 m under the rolling shutter. Predicted results of explosion pressure and temperature show that appropriate active fire engineering systems are required when servicing these clean fuel vehicles in garages. An appropriate vent in an enclosed space such as the garage is important in reducing explosion hazards.

Suggested Citation

  • Chi Wing To & Wan Ki Chow & Fang Ming Cheng, 2021. "Simulation of Possible Fire and Explosion Hazards of Clean Fuel Vehicles in Garages," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-15, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12537-:d:678140
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12537/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12537/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chow, W. K., 2002. "Ventilation of enclosed train compartments in Hong Kong," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 161-170, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xingmao Wang & Fengyan Yi & Qingqing Su & Jiaming Zhou & Yan Sun & Wei Guo & Xing Shu, 2023. "Influence of Longitudinal Wind on Hydrogen Leakage and Hydrogen Concentration Sensor Layout of Fuel Cell Vehicles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Byoungjik Park & Yangkyun Kim & Jin Ouk Park & Ohk Kun Lim, 2023. "Jet Flame Risk Analysis for Safe Response to Hydrogen Vehicle Accidents," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-13, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barone, Giovanni & Buonomano, Annamaria & Forzano, Cesare & Palombo, Adolfo, 2020. "Enhancing trains envelope – heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems: A new dynamic simulation approach for energy, economic, environmental impact and thermal comfort analyses," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    2. Christian Suárez & Alfredo Iranzo & José Antonio Salva & Elvira Tapia & Gonzalo Barea & José Guerra, 2017. "Parametric Investigation Using Computational Fluid Dynamics of the HVAC Air Distribution in a Railway Vehicle for Representative Weather and Operating Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-13, July.
    3. Barone, Giovanni & Buonomano, Annamaria & Forzano, Cesare & Giuzio, Giovanni Francesco & Palombo, Adolfo, 2022. "Energy, economic, and environmental impacts of enhanced ventilation strategies on railway coaches to reduce Covid-19 contagion risks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    4. Wolfgang Raedle & K. Ghazi Wakili & Christoph Geyer & Roman Hausammann & Urs Uehlinger, 2022. "Heat and Moisture Relevant In Situ Measurements in a Railway Passenger Vehicle Driving through the Swiss Alpine Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-20, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12537-:d:678140. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.