Towards accurate predictive modelling of liquid hydrogen pool dynamics

Liquid hydrogen (LH₂) is one of the main green energy vectors currently pursued to achieve decarbonization in the maritime sector. However, its use can lead to several consequences due to loss of containment. After a leak of LH₂, a pool may form and extend the hazard time, during which the hydrogen gas, after evaporation, can encounter an ignition source. To better estimate and understand the evaporation time of a pool after its spreading, this study develops and validates a ring reduction model for simulating cryogenic pool spreading and evaporation. In the proposed model, the cryogenic liquid pool is discretized by rings, which allow for a more precise evaporation calculation and better simulate the pool spreading and shrinking. The model solves local mass and energy balances at each time step, calculating heat flux, evaporation, and accurately calculates transient ground temperature profiles. During evaporation, the radius is updated by progressively removing the outer and inner rings as their mass evaporates. This study proves that while the ring reduction model is robust, the implementation of the right heat transfer correlations for cryogenic pools is still a research gap that must be addressed to accurately replicate pool scenarios.

Keywords: safety, cryogenic fluids, liquid hydrogen, pool spreading, modelling.