Chemical equilibrium analysis of dry hydrogen combustion

The present work is based on a thermo-chemical equilibrium model for studying the effect of combustion of hydrogen during postulated accident scenarios in nuclear reactor containments. This model is based on the method of element potentials which seeks to minimize the free energy of the system. The condition on internal energy balance is imposed as a constraint during the minimization process. Another simplified model purely based on the internal energy balance has also been implemented to investigate the isolated impact of free energy and the conditions under which it becomes dominant. The two models have been used to extract final pressures for a wide range of initial conditions and mixture compositions that are typically found during accident scenarios. In the absence of hydrogen combustion experimental data, such models will become important for laying down a first estimate on the possible outcomes. (author)