Existing standards for the approval of composite cylinders for the transport of compressed hydrogen are currently based on deterministic (ISO 11119-3) and semi-probabilistic (UN GTR No. 13) criteria. This paper analysis the capabilities of these procedures with respect to the evaluation of burst strength. Their characteristics are compared with the probabilistic approach developed at BAM. Based on Monte-Carlo simulations the available design range (mean value and scatter of burst strength) of all concepts are assessed. In addition, the probability of acceptance for potentially unsafe design types is determined.
The results show large areas of burst properties with a sufficient reliability which cannot be used for the design of composite cylinders, due to current approval criteria. On the other hand, existing standards allow the approval of potentially unsafe designs in case of a very high scatter regarding their burst strength.
It is also shown that existing design types are already designed to the limits of the available design area. A further weight and cost reduction of composite cylinders is therefore closely related to the approval criteria. An example based on UN GTR No. 13 shows how an approval criterion can be optimized by using statistical methods. The example shows that a reduced minimum burst pressure can be combined with a lower probability of acceptance for potentially unsafe design types.
The explosion of hydrogen gas storage cylinders on May 25, 1894, represents one of the most spectacular failure cases during the late industrialization period in Germany. With respect to modern applications to hydrogen storage as energy carrier, it has several times been referred to as precedent failure case for the whole industrial sector. The detailed investigation reports by Martens have thus gained interest in the last years, but also, because the publications in 1896 about his expertise already provided in September 1894 document one of the first and most comprehensive investigations which can be regarded as a nucleus for modern failure analysis.
After summarizing the newspaper reports in the introduction, the present contribution provides a review of Martens' reports targeted at the development of failure analyses and materials testing procedures as well as potential failure origins.