The enhanced introduction of hydrogen as an energy carrier in future requires substantial efforts in terms of safety aspects. Hydrogen safety has been subject to numerous research efforts. One important issue is the prevention of the formation of ignitable mixtures of hydrogen inadvertently released into an oxygen containing atmosphere. The hazard of hydrogen detonations is present in all hydrogen application fields like production, storage and utilization. Passive auto-catalytic recombiners are being used in nuclear power plants for the removal of hydrogen released during severe accidents. These devices make use of the fact that hydrogen and oxygen recombine on catalytically active surfaces forming water and heat already at low temperatures and concentrations. Such recombiners may become suitable also for non-nuclear applications and may represent an important component in the safety concepts of future hydrogen containing systems. At the Research Center Juelich, new catalyst systems for hydrogen recombiners have been developed. The features comprise high conversion efficiencies avoiding an overheating of the catalyst elements by using catalyst systems with adapted activity. The paper describes the experimental investigations on the behavior of this advanced type of catalytic recombiner for hydrogen removal and presents some of the results obtained. It is completed by numerical studies, in which the effectiveness of such devices, if employed in confined areas, is being examined.
Experimental investigations and numerical modeling on hydrogen recombining devices in closed areas
2004
8 Seiten, 8 Bilder, 6 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Datenträger
Englisch