Liquid Hydrogen Detonation/Handling

[aramis]

Yet, at forty five percent capacity by volume, one of the first images pictured one would have would be:

Hindenburg's hydrogen burned above the airship. The airship itself burned due to the dope used on the shell.

The Mythbusters had a great time trying to get hydrogen to burn... for something SO flammable, it's so twitchy to get going.

The NTSB pretty much has said the same thing. Hydrogen fueled vehicles are amongst the least likely to combust, and when they do, most of the flame is above the vehicle, not in it. Until it thins out enough to burn, it simply won't.

 

[kilemall]

No, not likely to explode. Hydrogen is one of the safest flammables around.

Note that the fireballs we see from NASA are flamefronts, not explosions.

Hydrogen only burns in a limited range of oxygen mixtures, and only detonates in a much much narrower range.

The flash freeze is the threat.

I didn't get that from the NASA expert article I posted above, it certainly did explode on them under specific conditions.

 

[aramis]

I didn't get that from the NASA expert article I posted above, it certainly did explode on them under specific conditions.

NASA's experiences with it are in systems with a perfect mix of oxidizer available and in close proximity.

Further, note that (altho' NASA keeps it relatively quiet) the Challenger crew were still alive following the fireball - they didn't die until impact. over 75% of the total machine was recovered.

You can't get much worse than a shuttle take-off for "stupid ways to handle LHyd"...

Even just putting the oxidizer below instead of above reduces the fireball chances, since O2 isn't as light.

The NTSB has far fewer restrictions on automotive hydrogen than upon any other alternative fuel, including batteries.

 

[nobby-w]

I didn't get that from the NASA expert article I posted above, it certainly did explode on them under specific conditions.

If you hold your head just right when you get your free trader shot you might get an explosion with L-Hyd meeting the oxygen in your passenger compartment - assuming you somehow ignored all SOP and didn't vent when you got into combat.

However, the flame would go out in fairly short order, as it will exhaust the oxidiser quickly, Note that the fuel and oxidiser don't start off mixed either - the L-Hyd is in the tank and the air is in the passenger compartment, so you don't have a nice stochiometric mix to start with.

After this the whole kaboodle will vent into space as there is now a great big hole in your fuel tank and passenger compartment. This might also take the noble who insisted you don't follow procedure out with it.

So you've got your adventure seed - find his body somewhere in deep space and explain to his family why you didn't follow safety procedures and vent the pressure compartments when the pirates first showed. Alternatively, you could try to fake a death through some other means, or claim that the pirates kidnapped him.

Or, if he did have the presence of mind to climb into a vacc suit or rescue ball, maybe now the pirates have picked him up from deep space and are in fact ransoming him. Adventure seed #2: get him back off the pirates.

Or, maybe he decides he doesn't want to pay, or is now so scared of space travel that he wants to be dropped off on the nearest planet. Adventure seed #3: his family wants him back as he's needed to sign a power of attorney for his senile grandfather.

His father is dead for whatever reason and his grandfather is senile, so now Bertie Wooster is the heir to the Duchy of Mora. Needless to say, the rest of the moot are not keen on this and would rather his (at least somewhat competent and/or controllable) cousin got the title. Adventure Seed #4: make it look like he was kidnapped and killed by pirates.