• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2009-2014
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• 2007

Hydrogen is a fuel of fuel cell system, which has powerful explosion possibility. Hence, the fuel cell system needs safety evaluation to prevent risk of hydrogen leakage. We use a actual size chamber of a common fuel cell module to analyze hydrogen. Hydrogen injection holes are located in lower part of the chamber in order to simulated hydrogen leakage. The hydrogen sensor can detect range of 0${\sim}$4%. Since the hydrogen gas, of which leaked amount is controled by MFC, are injected at the bottom holes, the transient sensor signals are measured. At a condition of 10cc/s of hydrogen leakage, the sensor detects hydrogen leakage after 22sec and there is also several seconds of time delay depending on the position of the sensor. This experimental data can be applied for the design of the hydrogen detection system and ventilation system of a residential fuel cell system.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.378-383
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• 2009

Hydrogen is the primary fuel in fuel cell systems. Because of high inflammation and explosion possibility of hydrogen, fuel cell systems require safety measures to prevent hydrogen hazard upon leakage. In this study, a model enclosure was made by referring to a commercial residential fuel cell system and hydrogen leakage experiments and computational simulations were conducted therein. Hydrogen was injected into the cavity through leakage holes located at the bottom while its flow rate was precisely controlled using MFC. The transient sensor signals from hydrogen sensors installed inside the enclosure were recorded and analyzed. The hydrogen sensor signals showed different delay times depending on their position relative to a leakage point, which indicated that hydrogen generally moves upward and accumulates at the upper region of a closed cavity. The inflammable regions with hydrogen concentration over 4% LEL were observed to locate near the leakage hole initially, and broaden towards the upper cavity region afterward. The simulation result showed that detection time at the hydrogen sensor was similar to the pattern of experimental results. However, the maximum concentration of hydrogen had a gap between experiment and simulation at detect point due to measurement errors and reaction rate.