Analysis of the Safety of Using Hydrocarbon Fuels and Hydrogen in Automobiles

Comparative analysis of the fire and explosion safety in using hydrocarbon fuels and hydrogen as automobile fuel is made. For reliable analysis, it is necessary to take into account the set of all the parameters influencing the fire and explosion safety, including the influence of the composition of multicomponent fuels on their characteristics and the influence of external conditions in cases of both normal operation and emergency; study and comparison of separate properties of fuels are insufficient. Complex analysis of the physicochemical properties of fuels shows that, in case of emergency, the consequences of the hydrogen ejection from the fuel system are in most cases less dangerous compared to the ejection of hydrocarbon fuels. The development of detonation combustion as a result of ignition of a hydrogen–air mixture formed in open space is improbable because of high diffusion ability of hydrogen and impossibility of the buildup of the required concentration. The possibility of wide use of hydrogen as an automobile fuel is substantiated.