Analysis of the evolution characteristics of hydrogen leakage and diffusion in a temperature stratified environment

Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier, but safety concerns must be addressed to ensure its widespread use. Aiming at the problem of hydrogen leakage and diffusion in a hydrogen workshop (HWS), a hydrogen diffusion model in the actual temperature stratified environment is established. The law of hydrogen diffusion evolution in this environment is analyzed by simulation and compared with the numerical model. It is revealed that leaked hydrogen in temperature stratified environment will be trapped at a certain height and spread horizontally, which is called the “locking phenomenon”. This paper explores the conditions under which this phenomenon occurs by comparing hydrogen diffusion under different temperature gradients and leakage rates. To reduce the risk of “locking phenomenon”, the vents were configured for the HWS vents. The results show that the hazard area of hydrogen diffusion is reduced by 41.10% after the vent configuration. This paper provides valuable insights into the evolution of hydrogen diffusion in a temperature stratified environment and proposes an effective solution to mitigate the associated risks.