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Dispersion of flammable vapor clouds resulting from large spills of liquid hydrogenThe purpose of this paper is to report the preliminary findings of hydrogen vapor cloud dispersion experiments conducted by NASA. The experiments were performed to obtain basic information regarding the physical phenomena governing the dispersion of flammable clouds formed as the result of spills of large quantities of liquid hydrogen. The experiments consisted of ground spills of up to 5.7 cubic meters (1500 gal) of liquid hydrogen, with spill durations of approximately 35 seconds. Instrumented towers, located downwind of the spill site, gather data on the temperature, hydrogen concentration, and turbulence levels as the hydrogen vapor cloud drifted downwind. Visual phenomena were recorded by motion picture and still cameras. Preliminary results of the experiments indicate that, for rapid spills, thermal and momentum induced turbulences cause the cloud to disperse to safe concentration levels and become positively buoyant long before mixing due to normal atmospheric turbulence becomes a major factor.
Document ID
19820028254
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Witcofski, R. D.
(NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 10, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1981
Subject Category
Propellants And Fuels
Meeting Information
Meeting: In: Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference
Location: Atlanta, GA
Start Date: August 9, 1981
End Date: August 14, 1981
Accession Number
82A11789
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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