Suppression effects of ultrafine water mist on hydrogen/methane mixture explosion in an obstructed chamber

The mitigation effects of ultrafine water mist on hydrogen/methane mixture explosions with hydrogen fraction (ϕ) of the range from 0% to 60% were experimentally studied in a vented chamber with obstacles. The spraying time, droplets size of water mist and the volume ratio of hydrogen were varied in the tests, and the key parameters that reflect the explosion characteristics such as the flame propagation imagines, flame propagation velocity, and explosion overpressure were obtained. The results show that the ultrafine water mist presents a significant mitigation effect on hydrogen/methane mixture explosions. The flame propagation structures are similar under the condition of without and with ultrafine water mist while the flame temperature is declined by the physical and chemical inhibition by ultrafine water mist. In addition, the mitigation effect increases with the increase of water mist flux. As a result, the maximum flame speed and overpressure of ϕ = 30% hydrogen/methane mixture explosion are declined by 33.3% and 58.4% under the condition of spraying for 2 min with 15 μm ultrafine water mist, respectively. Besides, the mitigation effects of ultrafine water mist on ϕ = 30% hydrogen/methane mixture explosion descends evidently with the increase of the droplets size of the range from 6 μm to 25 μm, which due to the easier evaporation and the greater total droplets surface area of the smaller water mist. However, the explosion mitigation effect of ultrafine water mist on the hydrogen/methane mixture actually descends with the increase hydrogen fraction.     

Hydrogen cloud explosion suppression by micron-size water mist

The primary purpose of this paper is to reveal the mechanism of suppressing hydrogen cloud explosion by micron-size water mist. On the basis of experimentally obtaining the characteristics of flame behavior and explosion pressure by changing equivalence ratio and water mist density, the physical and chemical mechanism of suppressing hydrogen cloud explosion is analyzed. The results indicated that with the increase of micron-size water mist density, the explosion-related parameters (including mean flame front speed, peak explosion pressure, peak rate of pressure rise and positive pressure impulse) of ER = 0.8 and ER = 1.0 decrease monotonously, the explosion-related parameters of ER = 2.0 increases firstly and then decreases which peak value is appeared at 26.73 g/m³. A considerable part of micron-size water mist is difficult to be completely evaporated in the reaction region, the temperature of combustion products region will be reduced due to subsequent continuous evaporation. In addition, the gasified micron-size water mist mainly interacts with H radicals through the elementary reactions of R3, R38 and R84. Due to incompletely evaporated micron-size water mist, the mist-induced turbulence is generated, which is the reason of enhancing hydrogen cloud explosion at lower micron-size water mist density of ER = 2.0.     

超细水雾作用下瓦斯的爆炸压力及升压速率

采用三面透明的长方体腔体模拟狭长空间内的瓦斯气体爆炸,研究了不同体积超细水雾对不同体积分数瓦斯气体爆炸的抑制作用.实验中采用GigaView高速摄影获取超细水雾抑制瓦斯爆炸的动态过程,采用两个PCB压力传感器测量超细水雾抑爆过程中腔内两个不同位置的压力变化情况.结果表明,瓦斯气体的爆炸压力、爆炸升压速率以及爆炸波的传播速度均随着超细水雾施加量的增加而明显降低.除爆炸被超细水雾完全抑制的情况外,爆炸波的传播速度可从接近声速下降到150,m/s,爆炸压力可降低78%,说明超细水雾抑制瓦斯爆炸是十分有效的.     

Investigating the explosion hazard of hydrogen produced by activated aluminum in a modified Hartmann tube

Metallic powders exposed to water are sources of hydrogen gas that may result in an explosion hazard in the process industries. In this paper, hydrogen production and flame propagation in a modified Hartmann tube were investigated using activated aluminum powder as fuel. A self-sustained reaction of activated aluminum with water was observed at cool water and room temperatures for all treatments. One gram of Al mixed with 5 wt% NaOH or CaO resulted in a rapid rate of hydrogen production and an almost 100% yield of hydrogen generation within 30 min. The flame structures and propagation velocity (FPV) of released hydrogen at different ignition delay times were determined using electric spark ignition. Flame structures of hydrogen were mainly dependent on hydrogen concentration and ignition delay time, likely due to different mechanisms of hydrogen generation and flame propagation. As expected, FPVs of hydrogen in the Hartmann tube increased with ignition delay time. However, the FPV of upward flame propagation was much larger than that of downward flame propagation due to the effect of spreading acceleration at the explosion vent. Once ignited, the FPV of upward flame propagation reached 31.3–162.5 m/s, a value far larger than the 7.5–30 m/s for downward flame propagation. Hydrogen explosion caused by the accumulation of wet metal dust can be far more dangerous than an ordinary hydrogen explosion.     

Flame characteristics of premixed H2-air mixtures explosion venting in a spherical container through a duct

The explosion venting duct can effectively reduce the hazard degree of a gas explosion and conduct the venting energy to the safe area. To investigate the flame quantitative propagation law of explosion venting with a duct, the effects of hydrogen fraction and explosion venting duct length on jet flame propagation characteristics of premixed H₂-air mixtures were analyzed through experiment and simulation. The experiment results under initial conditions of room temperature and 1 atm show that when hydrogen fraction was high enough, part of the unburned hydrogen was mixed with air again to reach an ignitable concentration, resulting in the secondary combustion was easier produced and the duration of the secondary flame increased. With the increase of venting duct length, the flame front distance and propagation velocity increased. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution of pressure field and temperature field, and the propagation process and mechanism of the flame venting with a duct were analyzed using FLUENT software. The variation of the pressure wave and the pressure reflection oscillation law in the explosion venting duct was captured. Therefore, in the industrial explosion venting design with a duct, the hazard caused by the coupling of venting pressure and venting flame under different fractions should be considered comprehensively.     

Outward propagation velocity and acceleration characteristics in hydrogen-air deflagration

Propagation characteristics of hydrogen-air deflagration need to be understood for an accurate risk assessment. Especially, flame propagation velocity is one of the most important factors. Propagation velocity of outwardly propagating flame has been estimated from burning velocity of a flat flame considering influence of thermal expansion at a flame front; however, this conventional method is not enough to estimate an actual propagation velocity because flame propagation is accelerated owing to cellular flame front caused by intrinsic instability in hydrogen-air deflagration. Therefore, it is important to understand the dynamic propagation characteristics of hydrogen-air deflagration. We performed explosion tests in a closed chamber which has 300 mm diameter windows and observed flame propagation phenomena by using Schlieren photography. In the explosion experiments, hydrogen-air mixtures were ignited at atmospheric pressure and room temperature and in the range of equivalence ratio from 0.2 to 1.0. Analyzing the obtained Schlieren images, flame radius and flame propagation velocity were measured. As the result, cellular flame fronts formed and flame propagations of hydrogen–air mixture were accelerated at the all equivalence ratios. In the case of equivalent ratio φ = 0.2, a flame floated up and could not propagate downward because the influence of buoyancy exceeded a laminar burning velocity. Based upon these propagation characteristics, a favorable estimation method of flame propagation velocity including influence of flame acceleration was proposed. Moreover, the influence of intrinsic instability on propagation characteristics was elucidated.     

Experimental study of explosion dynamics of syngas flames in the narrow channel

This article introduced the experimental study of the propagation of a syngas premixed flame in a narrow channel. The structural evolution, flame front position and velocity characteristics of lean and rich premixed flames were investigated at different hydrogen volume fractions as the flame was ignited at the open end of the pipe and propagated to the closed end. The comparative study of the syngas fuel characteristics, flame oscillation frequency and overpressure oscillation frequency prove that the syngas explosion flame oscillation in the narrow passage has a strong coupling relationship with overpressure and fuel heat release rate. The results was shown that the flame structure was strongly influenced by the hydrogen volume fraction of the syngas and the fuel concentration. The distorted tulip flame only appears in lean mixture. At 30% of hydrogen volume fraction, the flame exhibits intense and unstable propagation, manifested as the reciprocating and alternating movement of the flame front. As the volume fraction of hydrogen increased, the velocity of flame propagation and the frequency of oscillation increased. When the hydrogen volume fraction γ ≥ 0.4 at the equivalence ratio of Φ = 0.8, the pressure oscillation amplitude gradually increases and reaching the peak after 200–320 ms. Significantly, when γ = 0.3, the pressure peak increases abnormally. This work can provide support for the safe use of syngas in industry by experimental study of various explosion parameters in the narrow channel.     

External overpressure of vented hydrogen-air explosion in the tube

Vented explosion experiments involving hydrogen-air mixtures are performed in a 2 m-long cylindrical tube under the influences of the hydrogen concentration and vent burst pressure. Photos of the external flame shot by a high-speed camera show that the jet flame was expelled outside the vessel, and the relation between the flame propagation and external overpressure is summarized. The internal peak overpressure increases and then decreases with increasing hydrogen concentration. In contrast, the external peak overpressure exhibits the opposite correlation in comparison with the internal peak overpressure. The variations in the pressure peaks of the internal pressure curves are also discussed. When the hydrogen concentration is lower than 40 vol %, the second pressure peak plays a more dominant role than the other pressure peaks. However, when the hydrogen concentration is higher than 40 vol %, the third pressure peak becomes more dominant.     

Experimental study on the effect of fan-shaped water mist on horizontal under-expanded hydrogen jet flames

A series of experiments were performed on the fan-shaped water mist interaction with the horizontal under-expanded hydrogen jet flames. The effects of various water mist pressures and horizontal release positions were focused on flame length, temperature, and radiant heat flux. The results show that, water mist causes the flame to be tilted and the tilt angle of the flame increases with the water mist pressure, and the horizontal length of the flame is shortened. It is also found that water mist may lead to the radiation and temperature enhancement on the axis and downstream of the action position of water mist and flame, which is closely related to the configuration of water mist. However, this situation disappears and the temperature and radiation decrease with the increase of water mist pressure.     

Effects of hydrogen concentration and film thickness on the vented explosion in a small obstructed rectangular container

The explosion venting is an effective way to reduce hydrogen-air explosion hazards, but the explosion venting has been less touched in an obstructed container. The present study mainly focused on the effects of hydrogen concentration and film thickness on the explosion venting in a small obstructed rectangular container. High speed schlieren photography was employed to obtain the flame fine structure and velocity. Pressure transducers were used to measure the overpressure nearby the obstacle. The experimental results show that the obstacle has a significant effect on the flame shape, tip speed and overpressure. In the process of flame evolution, the flame surface becomes more wrinkled with time after the tulip flame. Compared with the cases without the obstacle, the flame surface becomes more distorted and wrinkled downstream of the obstacle under the influence of obstacle enhanced turbulence and flow instability. Upstream of the obstacle, the lower part of the flame surface becomes concave while the upper part shows convex. The pressure histories show that the maximum overpressure increases with the hydrogen concentration in the range of 11.8%–23.7%. Two main pressure peaks were observed for all hydrogen concentrations in the presence of the obstacle. The Helmholtz oscillations appear after the second pressure peak and its duration increases slightly when the hydrogen concentration increases. The combined effect of the obstacle and hydrogen concentration on the second peak overpressure is more significant than on the first peak overpressure. Moreover, the maximum overpressure shows a monotonic increase with the film thickness.     

Study on the dynamic process of in-duct hydrogen-air explosion flame propagation under different blocking rates

To effectively analyses the flame propagation of premixed hydrogen-air explosion, this paper carries out a numerical study on the dynamics of flame propagation during hydrogen explosions in a closed duct under different blocking rates. The study shows that flame structure is roughly the same when the flame passes through an obstacle under different blocking rates. The difference in blocking rates only shows a slight difference in the degree of flame deformation. When the flame passes through the obstacle, Rayleigh -Taylor (R-T) instability accompanies the entire flame propagation process and corresponds to each stage flame acceleration. Kelvin-Helmholtz(K-H) instability has a more prominent influence on the tip flame propagation. When the explosion flame propagates, instabilities lead to difference in density gradient and pressure gradient in the duct. Interaction between density gradient and pressure gradient leads to formation of baroclinic torque, which is the main cause of the vorticity. During the flame propagation, the vorticity at the front of the flame is roughly zero, whereas the vorticity formed at the obstacle or in the burned gases is more apparent. The larger the blocking rate, the more prominent the turbulence intensity during the flame propagation.     

不同管长条件下连通容器预混气体的爆炸

通过两个球形容器与管道的连接组合,改变管道长度,进行连通容器预混气体爆炸实验.旨在获得连通容器的爆炸压力发展历史和连通管道内的火焰传播速率,进而分析管道长度、火焰传播方向、不同点火位置对连通容器爆炸压力和最大压力上升速率、火焰传播速率的影响.实验结果表明,随着连接管道长度的增加,传爆容器的爆炸压力和最大压力上升速率增加;当传爆容器为小容器时,增加更为明显,压力振荡更为剧烈;起爆容器的爆炸压力随管长的增加变化不大;火焰从起爆容器传播到传爆容器经历了一段不断加速、但加速度不断减小的过程;管径一定时,起爆容器越大,火焰进入管道的初速度越大,传爆容器越小,火焰传播受到的阻滞作用越强,火焰到达传爆容器的速度越小.     

Experimental and numerical study of the influence of initial temperature on explosion limits and explosion process of syngas-air mixtures

To study the effect of initial temperature of 30, 60, 90, and 120 °C on the explosion limits and the explosion process of the syngas-air mixtures, the explosion limits were tested by the explosive limit instrument, and the flame propagation process in the spherical pressure vessel was recorded by the high-speed camera. The ANSYS Fluent 3D software was used to simulate the explosion behavior of syngas-air mixtures. The results showed that with the increase of the initial temperature, the lower explosion limit of syngas decreased and the upper explosion limit increased, and the effect of initial temperature on the upper explosion limit of syngas was greater than that on the lower explosion limit. The flame development process in the simulation was consistent with that in the experiment, propagating outward spherically until it filled the entire container. Both experimental and numerical results presented the same trend of accelerating the flame propagation speed with the increase of initial temperature. In addition, the simulation also obtained multi-dimensional transient explosion parameters that were difficult to obtain in the experiment. The explosion process of syngas was analyzed by the explosion parameters such as temperature and pressure field in the explosion area. An increase in temperature decreased the maximum explosion pressure and shortened the time to reach the maximum explosion pressure.     

用光学纹影摄影术观察分析定容燃烧室内氢燃料的燃烧过程

论述了采用纹影摄影术和高速摄影法观察分析氢气和空气预混合燃料在定容燃烧室内的火花点火燃烧过程,定性地分析了预混合氢气燃料的火焰形态和变化过程,以及燃烧室内的初始压力和空燃比对火焰传播速度及其燃烧压力的影响,通过采用纹影摄影术方法,初步揭示了预混合氢气燃料在定容燃烧室内燃烧时火焰初期紊流产生的机理,以及由开始的层流状火焰发展到湍流状火焰的过程,研究结果表明,预混合氢气燃料燃烧的火焰传播速度及燃烧压力明显地受燃烧室内的初始压力和空燃比的影响。     

Effect of hydrogen enrichment and electric field on lean CH4/air flame propagation at elevated pressure

Electric assisted combustion for hydrogen enriched hydrocarbons may even extend the lean burn limit and provide the further improvement on combustion stability. This study investigates the effect of hydrogen enrichment and DC electric field on lean CH₄/air flame propagation. Electric field inside the chamber was generated by mesh and needle electrodes. Effect of hydrogen enrichment on the ion mole fraction in the flame was discussed based on reaction mechanism included neutral and ion reactions. The flame propagation images, flame displacement speed were used to evaluate the combined influences of hydrogen enrichment and electric field on propagating flame. Results showed that the hydrogen addition would increase positive ions mole fraction and the peak value is mainly determined by H₃O⁺. This would be due to that CH increases with hydrogen fraction, which is the main species in the initial reaction for the ion reactions. Electric field effect about flame propagation was suppressed with hydrogen addition due to the competition between the increment in ion mole fraction and the decrement in flame time. Electric assisted combustion is more evident at leaner conditions and elevated pressure. The ratio of ionic wind velocity to flow velocity may be the determined factor to predict the electric field effect about propagating flame. The tendency based on this ratio is in accordance with the experimental results for various hydrogen fraction and equivalence ratio at elevated pressure.     

Numerical simulation study and dimensional analysis of hydrogen explosion characteristics in a closed rectangular duct with obstacles

The influence of obstacles on hydrogen explosion is studied by numerical simulation and dimensional analysis. The numerical simulation is conducted based on the premixed model in a closed rectangular duct with rectangular obstacles, and ten variables that affect the flame propagation velocity are analyzed by dimensional analysis. Continuous acceleration of flame and collision annihilation of flame were successfully realized through triangular obstacles in simulation. The result shows that with the number of obstacles changes, the flame invariably converts to hemispherical flame, finger flame, tongue flame, quasi-plane flame, and mouth flame in turn. But the flame front is more twisted in two obstacles due to hydrodynamic instability and vortices. Through the comparative analysis of the flame and flow field in the duct during hydrogen explosion. It is found that the flame-obstacles-flow field coupling and its hydrodynamic phenomena determine the flame deformation and changes in propagation velocity. The result of the dimensional analysis shows that the drag coefficient can well depict the effects of the shape of the obstacles, and the dimensionless qualitative and quantitative model of flame propagation speed is given and verified.     

Inerting effect of carbon dioxide on confined hydrogen explosion

Taking maximum flame propagation velocity, maximum explosion pressure, maximum rate of pressure rise and time-average of rising pressure impulse as index, this paper is aimed at evaluating the inerting effects of carbon dioxide on confined hydrogen explosion by varying initial pressure, carbon dioxide addition and equivalence ratio. The results indicated that under enhancing hydrodynamic instability, the stronger flame destabilization occurs with the increase of initial pressure. At Φ = 0.8 and Φ = 1.0, the destabilization effect of thermodiffusive instability continues to increase with the increase of carbon dioxide addition. At all equivalence ratios, the destabilization effect of hydrodynamic instability decreases monotonously with the increase of carbon dioxide addition. All of maximum flame propagation velocity, maximum explosion pressure, maximum rate of pressure rise and time-average of rising pressure impulse reach the peak value at Φ = 1.5, and decrease significantly with increasing carbon dioxide addition. The inerting effect of carbon dioxide could be attributed to the reduction of thermal diffusivity, flame temperature and active radicals. The chemical effect of carbon dioxide reaches the peak value at Φ = 1.0. With the increase of carbon dioxide addition, the chemical effect continues to decrease at Φ = 0.8 and Φ = 1.0, and increase monotonously at Φ = 2.5.     

Turbulent combustion evolution of stoichiometric H2/CH4/air mixtures within a spherical space

Turbulent combustion evolutions of stoichiometric H₂/CH₄/air mixtures were experimentally studied within a spherical constant-volume combustion vessel. A series of initial turbulent ambience (with the range of turbulence intensity from 0 to 1.309 m/s) and a series of hydrogen volumetric fraction (with the range from 0.3 to 0.9) were taken as the variables to studied the influences of turbulence intensity and the fuel composition on the turbulent combustion evolutions. The evolutions of explosion overpressure were studied upon the variations of maximal pressure, the influences of turbulence intensity mainly located at heat loss while the influences of fuel composition mainly located at adiabatic explosion. Subsequently, the evolutions of burnt mass were discussed, the competition between pressure rising and temperature rising induced by the heat release during combustion was considered as major influence mechanism. Then, the nexus between burning velocity and the related burnt mass rate were discussed, the variations regulations of maximal burning velocity brought by turbulence intensity and hydrogen volumetric fraction were analysed. Finally, the nexus between maximum burning velocity and heat loss was discussed.     

An experimental study of the effect of 2.5% methane addition on self-ignition and flame propagation during high-pressure hydrogen release through a tube

This paper demonstrates experimental investigation on the self-ignition and subsequent flame propagation of high-pressure hydrogen-methane mixture release via a tube. The proportion of methane added to hydrogen is 2.5% (vol.). A transparent rectangular tube (d = 15 mm, L = 400 mm) is used in the experiments. It is shown that the minimum burst pressure required for self-ignition increases 1.57 times for only 2.5% methane addition from 2.89 MPa (pure hydrogen) up to 4.68 MPa (2.5% CH₄ addition). This is mainly caused by the following reasons: on the one hand, methane addition can result in the decease of shock intensity inside the tube, thereby lowering the temperature of the combustible mixture; on the other hand, the hydrogen-methane mixture has the higher minimum ignition energy than that of pure hydrogen. Besides, 2.5% methane addition can increase the initial ignition time, weaken the flame intensity and reduce the flame propagation velocity relative to tube wall inside the tube. Moreover, for cases with 2.5% methane addition, the complete flame throughout the tube is formed closer to the back end of the tube. When the self-sustained flame exits from the tube, the maximum overpressure in a confined space increases with 2.5% methane addition.     

Suppression of hydrogen/oxygen/nitrogen explosions by fine water mist containing sodium hydroxide additive

Complementary sets of experiments, consisting of burning velocity measurements and vented explosion tests, have been undertaken for a wide range of hydrogen–oxygen–air test compositions using fine water mist with NaOH additive (SMD ∼ 4 μm). In contrast to pure water mists, burning velocity measurements identified a critical mist concentration (for a given gas composition) above which a sudden large decrease in burning velocity is observed. The critical concentration was also found to correspond to an inerting concentration during vented explosion testing. Prior to reaching the critical concentration, the NaOH additive had a negligible effect on both the burning velocity measurements and explosion tests. This clearly indicates that the NaOH additive is acting as a chemical inhibitor. The inhibiting effect is generally considered to occur due to homogeneous gas phase mechanisms and it is thought likely that only the fraction of the entire mist (with droplet diameter < 2.5 μm) would evaporate sufficiently quickly to allow vaporised NaOH to take part in the inhibition. The experimental data obtained have enabled the construction of an inerting map to facilitate the design of a practical mist inerting system.