Tactical depressurization of hydrogen containers with civilian rifle and ammunition

There can be situations, for example if gas containers have been damaged in a vehicle crash, when the fire and rescue service would like to depressurize the gas containers through shooting with a civilian rifle. Modern high-pressure hydrogen containers are designed for a working pressure of 700 bars. This means that they have a very thick and strong shell made of composite material. At the same time the fire and rescue service only have access to civilian rifles and ammunition that can be bought for hunting purposes. Thus, tactical and safe depressurization of hydrogen containers is a big challenge. RISE have, together with the Södra Älvsborgs Fire and Rescue Services (SÄRF), Swedish Civil Contingency Agency, and Lund University conducted shooting tests of gas tanks mounted on a hydrogen gas vehicle and three stand-alone hydrogen gas tanks. The shooting tests were conducted at Remmene shooting field in Sweden. Thirteen shooting tests with hydrogen tanks placed in favouarable positions were performed. Out of these, only four tests were succesful in puncturing the individual gas tank in a single shot. Furthermore, two unwanted events occurred; one rupture (after 7 shots) and two powerful jets (after 20 and one shot respectively). This shows that further development and research is required in order to develop a method to safely depressurize high pressure hydrogen tanks.Finansierat av RISE Tunnel Underground Safety Center (TUSC).