This dataset was developed to support hydrogen safety research by using helium as a nonflammable surrogate for hydrogen in controlled indoor release experiments. The data were collected in two full-scale indoor laboratory enclosures, identified as Lab-1 and Lab-2, to characterize gas dispersion, accumulation, ventilation effects, and sensor response under representative indoor release conditions.
The dataset includes five helium release experiments: one experiment in Lab-1 and four experiments in Lab-2. Time-resolved gas concentration measurements are provided at multiple sensor locations. Lab-1 includes measurements from 24 sensor locations, while Lab-2 uses a 37-location sensor coordinate set; individual test files may contain measurements from only a subset of those locations. Missing or unavailable measurements are identified in the source files.
Helium was selected as a surrogate for hydrogen because it is nonflammable and can be used to study key transport and dispersion behavior without the hazards associated with hydrogen release testing. As a result, the dataset is intended to support research relevant to hydrogen dispersion, gas detection, ventilation assessment, sensor placement, and safety analysis in indoor environments.
For each experiment, accompanying metadata provide available information on test date, nozzle diameter, nozzle orientation, release rate, nozzle pressure, release duration or release start and end times, HVAC operating state, release location, and three-dimensional release coordinates. The experiments span multiple release conditions, including different nozzle sizes, orientations, pressures, and flow rates.
In addition to the experimental time-series data, the dataset contains sensor coordinate files, release-source coordinates, laboratory geometry files for spatial interpretation, supporting HVAC documentation, data-processing resources, and interactive visualization tools. The sensor identifiers in the coordinate files correspond to the column headings in the experimental time-series files. The visualization environment allows users to select a laboratory and experiment, inspect sensor positions in three dimensions, overlay laboratory geometry, and compare concentration histories and maximum measured concentrations across selected sensors.
This dataset is intended for hydrogen safety research, indoor dispersion analysis, ventilation studies, sensor-placement assessment, data visualization, and comparison with computational fluid dynamics and other predictive models.
Data can be visualized here from our H2SAFE GitHub repo: H2SAFE Data Visualization
Included Data and Resources
- Time-series gas concentration data in CSV format
- Sensor identifiers and three-dimensional sensor coordinates
- Gas release-source coordinates
- Laboratory geometry files
- Supporting HVAC documentation
- Data-processing scripts and related resources
- Interactive browser-based visualization tools
| Name | Size | Type | Resource Description | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| H2SAFE | 0 KB | Website | This repository supports indoor hydrogen safety research conducted at the National Laboratory of the Rockies. It includes data-processing scripts and an interactive visualization tool for analyzing hydrogen dispersion experiments. | |
| Dataset | 3.6 MB | Archive | Dataset containing all CSV and metadata of sensor locations deployed for both labs. | |
| README | 676 KB | Document | Document containing information on HVAC in each room and the leak location for each room. |
Peaslee, David, Munjal Purnkant Shah, Ian Palin, John Drumm, Umang Patel, James Stewart, Donggyu Jang, Adam Bailey, and William Buttner. 2026. "Dataset for H2SAFE - Controlled Gas Releases and Sensor-Response for Indoor Hydrogen Safety." NLR Data Catalog. Golden, CO: National Laboratory of the Rockies. Last updated: October 5, 2026. DOI: 10.7799/17118570.