Ventilation System Influence on Hydrogen Explosion Hazards in Industrial Lead-Acid Battery Rooms

Abstract

When charging most types of industrial lead-acid batteries, hydrogen gas is emitted. A large number of batteries, especially in relatively small areas/enclosures, and in the absence of an adequate ventilation system, may create an explosion hazard. This paper describes full scale tests, which demonstrate conditions that can occur in a battery room in the event of a ventilation system breakdown. Over the course of the tests, full scale hydrogen emission experiments were performed to study emission time and flammable cloud formation according to the assumed emission velocity. On this basis, the characteristics of dispersion of hydrogen in the battery room were obtained. The CFD model Fire Dynamic Simulator created by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) was used for confirmation that the lack of ventilation in a battery room can be the cause of an explosive atmosphere developing, and leading to, a potential huge explosive hazard. It was demonstrated that different ventilation systems provide battery rooms with varying efficiencies of hydrogen removal. The most effective type appeared to be natural ventilation, which proved more effective than mechanical means.

Lead-Acid Battery Sizing for a DC Auxiliary System in a Substation by the Optimization Method

“…The vector p opt = [p 1,opt , p 2,opt , p 3,opt , p 4,opt , p 5,opt ] is obtained as a solution. If the parameters are decoded, we can obtain the optimum operational temperature Θ opt = p 1,opt , optimum maintenance mode m mode,opt = p 2 , optimum capacity of the lead-acid cell Q c,opt , optimum number of cells connected in series n c,opt , optimum duration of autonomy t aut,opt = p 5,opt , and optimum costs C opt, that can be calculated using Equation (19) if optimal costs C e,Θ,opt , C m,opt in C c,a,opt are used as parameters in this equation.…”

“…Hence, proper BR ventilation is required. The author in [19] discusses the risk of explosion in the BR and safety measures.The new LAB selection concept by the DE optimization method is designed in the Matlab program tool environment. The data on LABs were supplied by the battery manufacturer.…”

“…This method will be compared with the new selection method that uses the optimization process. The basic theoretical requirements for the new concept of LAB selection with optimization have been covered from a book [18], articles [19][20][21], and standards [8,17,22,23]. The implementation of DEA in the LAB selection was carried out on the basis of research in [15,16].The main contributions and innovations in this paper are:…”

“…Hence, proper BR ventilation is required. The author in [19] discusses the risk of explosion in the BR and safety measures.…”

A Numerical Study on Fire Development in a Confined Space Leading to Backdraft Phenomenon

“…Under-ventilated fires often occur in buildings where the free air supply is very limited. Fire development in a confined space can be analyzed from different points of view, and many experimental and numerical studies have dealt with this issue [4][5][6]. Some phenomena related to under-ventilated fires are dangerous and pose a great threat to rescue teams.…”