Modelling of combustion generated during the rupture of hydrogen tanks

Hydrogen is considered one of the possible solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, there are production, storage, and safety issues to be solved before it might start to be widely used worldwide. In this thesis, the fireballs generated after the catastrophic rupture of hydrogen tanks are studied. In particular, the fireball thermal hazard is evaluated by means of experimental data collected during the SH2IFT project. Also, the models generally used to predict the fireball dimension and duration are analyzed and compared with empirical data from the literature. Finally, some new models that better describe the experimental data are proposed.