NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF HYDROGEN LEAKAGE DIFFUSION FROM A FUEL CELL VEHICLE IN A SMALL GARAGE

Wang Haoze; Xia Yuzhen; Hu Guilin

doi:10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0700

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Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica ›› 2026, Vol. 47 ›› Issue (9) : 123-130. DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0700

NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF HYDROGEN LEAKAGE DIFFUSION FROM A FUEL CELL VEHICLE IN A SMALL GARAGE

Wang Haoze, Xia Yuzhen, Hu Guilin

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Abstract

To assess the risk of hydrogen leakage from fuel cell vehicles in small residential garages, this study employed a virtual nozzle model to calculate various physical parameters of hydrogen diffusion following leakage from a 35 MPa hydrogen storage tank. These parameters served as boundary conditions for Fluent simulations. A total of twelve working conditions were simulated by coupling six factors： garage door status （open/closed）, air intake vent status （open/closed）, varying exhaust vent velocity, exhaust vent layout, natural wind speed, and natural wind direction. Monitoring points were set up to reveal the influence of difterent ventilation modes on hydrogen diffusion. Key findings reveal that when garage doors are open, natural ventilation demonstrates superior risk mitigation compared to mechanical ventilation, with wind direction significantly influencing hydrogen diffusion patterns. Under closed-door conditions, mechanical ventilation reduces the hazardous hydrogen volume to some extent. Notably, the UDF （User-Defined Function）-controlled intelligent ventilation strategy （exhaust velocity=hydrogen mass fraction×800 m/s） demonstrates enhanced hydrogen removal efficiency after 30 seconds, with distributed ventilation layouts outperforming centralized configurations. This research provides critical insights for optimizing ventilation systems in hydrogen vehicle storage environments.

Key words

fuel cells / hydrogen / leakage / diffusion / numerical simulation

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Wang Haoze, Xia Yuzhen, Hu Guilin. NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF HYDROGEN LEAKAGE DIFFUSION FROM A FUEL CELL VEHICLE IN A SMALL GARAGE[J]. Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica. 2026, 47(9): 123-130 https://doi.org/10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.2025-0700

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