Effects of humidity on minimum ignition energy of gaseous epoxypropane/air mixtures

The minimum ignition energy (MIE) is an important property for designing safety standards and understanding the ignition process of combustible mixtures. The minimum ignition energy (MIE) of gaseous epoxypropane/air mixtures is measured using capacitive spark discharge. The effect of humidity on MIE is studied. It is shown that the MIE is not constant when the relative humidity increases from 40% to 88% at room temperature. The relative humidity has no significant influence on the MIE of gaseous epoxypropane/air mixtures at the lower volume fraction of gaseous epoxypropane in air. But, it has significant influence on that at the higher volume fraction. The MIEs of gaseous epoxypropane/air mixtures vary with the fraction of gaseous epoxypropane in air and the humidity. The lowest value of MIE (0.12 mJ) of gaseous epoxypropane/air mixtures is reached at around 10% in the examined ranges of the concentrations for the humidity 40%. The lowest values of MIE (0.1 mJ) of the mixtures are reached also at around 10% in the examined ranges of the concentrations for the humidity 66% and 88% respectively.     

Minimum ignition energy theoretical model for flammable gas based on flame propagation layer by layer

To achieve the rapid prediction of minimum ignition energy (MIE) for premixed gases with wide-span equivalence ratios, a theoretical model is developed based on the proposed idea of flame propagation layer by layer. The validity and high accuracy of this model in predicting MIE have been corroborated against experimental data (from literature) and traditional models. In comparison, this model is mainly applicable to uniform premixed flammable mixtures, and the ignition source needs to be regarded as a punctiform energy source. Nevertheless, this model can exhibit higher accuracy (up to 90%) than traditional models when applied to premixed gases with wide-span equivalence ratios, such as C₃H₈-air mixtures with 0.7–1.5 equivalence ratios, CH₄-air mixtures with 0.7–1.25 equivalence ratios, H₂-air mixtures with 0.6–3.15 equivalence ratios et al. Further, the model parameters have been pre-determined using a 20 L spherical closed explosion setup with a high-speed camera, and then the MIE of common flammable gases (CH₄, C₂H₆, C₃H₈, C₄H₁₀, C₂H₄, C₃H₆, C₂H₂, C₃H₄, C₂H₆O, CO and H₂) under stoichiometric or wide-span equivalence ratios has been calculated. Eventually, the influences of model parameters on MIE have been discussed. Results show that MIE is the sum of the energy required for flame propagation during ignition. The increase in exothermic and heat transfer efficiency for fuel molecules can reduce MIE, whereas prolonging the flame induction period can increase MIE.     

High voltage and break spark ignition of propylene/air mixtures at various initial pressures

The original break spark test apparatus for intrinsically safe circuits was modified to allow the measurements of minimum ignition currents (MICs) at different initial pressures between 20 and 120 kPa. The MICs of different propylene/air mixtures at ambient temperature and at both atmospheric and sub-atmospheric pressures were measured. The corresponding minimum ignition energies (MIEs) using break sparks were calculated and compared with those derived from MIE/quenching distance correlations using high voltage sparks between flanged electrodes.     

Effects of hydrogen addition on propagation characteristics of premixed methane/air flames

An experimental study has been conducted to investigate the effects of hydrogen addition on the fundamental propagation characteristics of methane/air premixed flames at different equivalence ratios in a venting duct. The hydrogen fraction in the methane–hydrogen mixture was varied from 0 to 1 at equivalence ratios of 0.8, 1.0 and 1.2. The results indicate that the tendency towards flame instability increased with the fraction of hydrogen, and the premixed hydrogen/methane flame underwent a complex shape change with the increasing hydrogen fraction. The tulip flame only formed when the fraction of hydrogen ranged from 0 to 50% at an equivalence ratio of 0.8. It was also found that the flame front speed and the overpressure increased significantly with the hydrogen fraction. For all equivalence ratios, the stoichiometric flame (Φ = 1.0) has the shortest time of flame propagation and the maximum overpressure.     

Flow and flame visualization near the upper flammability limits of methane/air and propane/air mixtures at elevated pressures

In this study, direct visualization of flow and flame from the ignition of methane/air and propane/air mixtures near the UFL at elevated pressures of up to 2.0 MPa were obtained with a test cell comprised of double-sided plexiglass and a containment vessel with double-sided glass. These visualizations allowed direct observations of ignition and flame near UFL at elevated pressures. Two distinctive features were observed in ignition at elevated pressures that differ from those under ambient pressure: the hot igniter formed a convective plume, rather than a convection cell; and the flame initiated from the top of the test cell and propagated downwards, rather than directly from the igniter. Both these distinctive features are characteristics of convection at high Rayleigh number accompanied with increased gas density at elevated pressures. Our study also shows that visualization of the formation of planar flame provides the most objective criterion for defining flammability limits at elevated pressures.     

Experimental investigation of spark ignition energy in kerosene,hexane, and hydrogen

Quantifying the risk of accidental ignition of flammable mixtures is extremely important in industry and aviation safety. The concept of a minimum ignition energy (MIE), obtained using a capacitive spark discharge ignition source, has traditionally formed the basis for determining the hazard posed by fuels. While extensive tabulations of historical MIE data exist, there has been little work done on ignition of realistic industrial and aviation fuels, such as gasoline or kerosene. In the current work, spark ignition tests are performed in a gaseous kerosene–air mixture with a liquid fuel temperature of 60 °C and a fixed spark gap of 3.3 mm. The required ignition energy was examined, and a range of spark energies over which there is a probability of ignition is identified and compared with previous test results in Jet A (aviation kerosene). The kerosene results are also compared with ignition test results obtained in previous work for traditional hydrogen-based surrogate mixtures used in safety testing as well as two hexane–air mixtures. Additionally, the statistical nature of spark ignition is discussed.     

Influence of the ignition source location on the determination of the explosion pressure at elevated initial pressures

Explosion pressures are determined for rich methane–air mixtures at initial pressures up to 30 bar and at ambient temperature. The experiments are performed in a closed spherical vessel with an internal diameter of 20 cm. Four different igniter positions were used along the vertical axis of the spherical vessel, namely at 1, 6, 11 and 18 cm from the bottom of the vessel. At high initial pressures and central ignition a sharp decrease in explosion pressures is found upon enriching the mixture, leading to a concentration range with seemingly low explosion pressures. It is found that lowering the ignition source substantially increases the explosion pressure for mixtures inside this concentration range, thereby implying that central ignition is unsuitable to determine the explosion pressure for mixtures approaching the flammability limits.     

Safety parameters for oxygen-enriched flames

The utilization of low-quality gaseous fuel from biomass gasification and the abundance of oxygen-rich streams obtained as a by-product of nitrogen-air separation by membrane technology has incentivized the development of sustainable oxygen-enriched combustion technologies in the last decades. However, a dearth of experimental and numerical analysis addressing the reactivity and safety aspects of these mixtures at initial low temperatures can be observed in the current literature.In this work, the heat flux burner was adopted for the measurement of the laminar burning velocity of methane in oxygen enriched air at different equivalence ratios. Results were compared with numerical data obtained by means of detailed kinetic mechanisms developed at the University of Bologna and the Gas Research Institute (GriMech3.0). Simplified correlations for the estimation of the laminar burning velocity with respect to the oxygen content at any equivalence ratio were developed, tested and evaluated.An elemental reaction-based function was found appropriate for the estimation of the overall reactivity of the investigated mixtures. Besides, numerical analyses were performed to characterize the flame structures in terms of temperature and product distribution under several initial conditions. These results gave further insights into the reaction mechanisms of gaseous fuels in the case of oxygen-enriched air, highlighting potential bottlenecks for kinetic model refinements. Eventually, relevant safety parameters were estimated, in particular the flammability range of the fuel/oxidant mixture, in terms of lower and upper flammability limits.     

An investigation of flammability limits of gaseous mixtures at reduced pressures

An experimental investigation of flammability limits of hydrogen, methane and propane in air and oxygen at reduced pressures was carried out. A slow influence of sizes of an experimental vessel of a diameter higher than 125 mm on the flammability limits was revealed, but an influence of a type of an oxidizer (air or oxygen) and an ignition energy is significant. Critical values of an initial pressure for a possibility of a flame propagation were determined. The limiting values of the ignition energy were determined, for which an elevation of this parameter does not influence the critical pressure and the flammability region. A qualitative interpretation of obtained experimental results is given, which is based on a peculiarities of a flame initiation.     

丙烷/空气拉伸火焰传播稳定性实验研究

为了揭示空气中丙烷火焰传播特性,利用纹影系统记录了预混气体小能量点火条件下火焰形成与传播过程,得到了火焰表面的微观结构特征,分析了混合气体火焰的稳定性及其影响因素。结果表明:丙烷/空气混合物火焰发展过程及其表面微观特征与浓度直接相关;当混合物浓度接近爆炸上下限时,火焰扩展速率整体不大于0.5 m/s,燃烧区域向上漂浮,浮力成为影响火焰失稳的主导因素;当混合物浓度靠理论配比时,火焰呈规则球形扩展,火焰稳定性按照先减弱后增强的趋势发展,火焰表面褶皱的形成及演化规律是热扩散不稳定性和流体力学不稳定性共存与竞争的作用结果。     

Minimum ignition energy of medicinal powder – Florfenicol and Tilmicosin

This work aims to help improve the electrostatic safety design and explosion prevention of medical facilities. In this study, the minimum ignition energies (MIEs) of Florfenicol, Tilmicosin and mixtures of Florfenicol and Tilmicosin at ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 2:1 and 1:4 were measured in a Hartmann apparatus. The results demonstrated that the MIEs for Florfenicol, Tilmicosin and mixtures of Florfenicol and Tilmicosin at ratios of 1:1, 1:2, 2:1 and 1:4 are 200, 70, 180, 150, 200 and 110 mJ, respectively. Tilmicosin is more sensitive to static electricity, which is more dangerous than the other two powders examined in this paper. Furthermore, the MIEs of the mixtures are proportional to the Florfenicol content. For all powders, the MIE first decreased with the powder mass and later reached its minimum value. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to investigate the morphological specificity and thermal decomposition of the powders to elucidate the parameters governing the powder explosions further.     

The explosion overpressure field and flame propagation of methane/air and methane/coal dust/air mixtures

The explosion of the methane/air mixture and the methane/coal dust/air mixture under 40 J center spark ignition condition was experimentally studied in a large-scale system of 10 m³ vessel. Five pressure sensors were arranged in space with different distances from the ignition point. A high-speed camera system was used to record the growth of the flame. The maximum overpressure of the methane/air mixture appeared at 0.75 m away from the ignition point; the thickness of the flame was about 10 mm and the propagation speed of the flame fluctuated around 2.5 m/s with the methane concentration of 9.5%. The maximum overpressure of the methane/coal dust/air mixture appeared at 0.5 m. The flame had a structure of three concentric zones from outside were the red zone, the yellow illuminating zone and the bright white illuminating zone respectively; the thickness and the propagation speed of the flame increased gradually, the thickness of red zone and yellow illuminating zone reached 3.5 cm and 1 cm, the speed reached 9.2 m/s at 28 ms.     

Prediction of minimum ignition energy of aerosols using flame kernel modeling combined with flame front propagation theory

Flammable aerosols have created many fire and explosion hazards in the process industry, but the flammability of aerosols has not been fully understood. The minimum ignition energy has been widely used as an indicator for flammability of combustible mixtures, but the amount of experimental data on the minimum ignition energy of aerosols is very limited. In this work, the minimum ignition energy of tetralin aerosols is predicted using an integrated model. The model applies the flame front propagation theory in aerosol systems to the growth of the flame kernel, which was created during the spark discharge in the ignition process. The aerosol minimum ignition energy was defined as the minimum level of energy in the initial flame kernel to maintain the kernel temperature above the minimum ignition temperature of 1073 K specific for tetralin aerosols during the kernel growth. The minimum ignition energy obtained in the model is influenced by the fuel-air equivalence ratio and the size of the aerosol droplets. For tetralin aerosols of 40 μm diameter, E_min decreases significantly from 0.32 mJ to 4.3 × 10 e⁻³ mJ when the equivalence ratio rises from 0.57 to 1.0. For tetralin aerosols of 0.57 equivalence ratio, E_min increases from as 0.09 mJ to 0.32 mJ when the droplet diameter rises from 10 μm to 60 μm. The trends are in agreement with previous experimental observations. The method used in current work has the potential to prediction of the minimum ignition energy of aerosol.     

Experimental investigation on the lower flammability limits of diethyl ether/ n-pentane/epoxypropane-air mixtures

Diethyl ether (DEE), epoxypropane (PO) and n-pentane have excellent ignition and combustion performance; hence, they have a wide variety of applications in industry and advanced aviation propulsion systems. As these fuels are flammable at normal temperature and pressure, their explosive characteristics need to be explored. In this study, the lower flammability limits (LFLs) of vapor mixtures of DEE/PO/n-pentane in air were measured in 20 L, closed, stainless steel spherical vessels. Experimental results were obtained at ambient atmospheric pressure and an initial temperature of 40 °C. The experimental results show that the LFLs of DEE-air, n-pentane -air, and PO-air are 1.81 vol%, 1.41 vol% and 2.44 vol%, respectively. The LFLs of binary/ternary fuel mixtures under different compositions were tested, and the experimental results are compared with the classical Le Chatelier's formula. The results show that, for the binary fuels (i.e., DEE/PO, DEE/n-pentane, PO/n-pentane)-air mixtures, the maximum difference of the LFLs between Le Chatelier's formula and the experimental results is 6.10%. For the ternary fuels (i.e., DEE/PO/n-pentane)-air mixtures, the maximum difference of the LFLs between the two results is 6.33%. Due to the adiabatic flame temperature of each single fuel mixture being close, the Le Chatelier's formula is applicable for an estimation of the LFL for DEE/PO/n-pentane-air mixtures.     

Influence of coal particles on methane/air mixture ignition in a heated environment

The temperature at which coal dust glows is normally much lower than the auto-ignition temperature (AIT) of methane/air mixtures, and thus a better understanding is needed regarding methane/air ignition in a heated environment in the presence of coal particles. A horizontal tube apparatus was used to test the effect of brown coal and two kinds of bituminous and anthracite on methane/air combustibility. For the four coal samples tested, the presence of coal particles significantly reduced the minimum temperature for ignition of methane/air mixtures in a heated environment. No. 1 bituminous coal with 12 mm diameter decreased the ignition temperature value from 595 to 500 °C. It is thought that pre-ignition of low-AIT volatiles emitted from the heated coal particles ignited the methane/air mixtures. Volatiles, sulfur content, and large porosity of piled coal particles all enhanced ignition of methane/air mixtures in a hot environment, while water content and small particle size reduced ignition. For anthracite, no ignition occurred when temperatures of the heated environment were lower than the AIT of methane (595 °C), except for the 12-mm-diameter sample. Anthracite did not readily ignite methane/air mixtures and the ignition mechanism was somewhat similar to that of a burning cigarette.     

A theoretical model for the prediction of the minimum ignition energy of dust clouds

In this study, a physical model of the dust cloud ignition process is developed for both cylindrical coordinates with a straight-line shaped ignition source and spherical coordinates with a point shaped ignition source. Using this model, a numerical algorithm for the calculation of the minimum ignition energy (MIE) is established and validated. This algorithm can evaluate MIEs of dusts and their mixtures with different dust concentrations and particle sizes. Although the average calculated cylindrical MIE (MIE_cylindrical) of the studied dusts only amounts to 63.9% of the average experimental MIE value due to reasons including high idealization of the numerical model and possible energy losses in the experimental tests, the algorithm with cylindrical coordinates correctly predicts the experimental MIE variation trends against particle diameter and dust concentration. There is a power function relationship between the MIE and particle diameter of the type MIE ∝ d_p^k with k being approximately 2 for cylindrical coordinates and 3 for spherical coordinates. Moreover, as dust concentration increases MIE(conc) first drops because of the decreasing average distance between particles and, at fuel-lean concentrations the increasing dust cloud combustion heat; however, after the dust concentration rises beyond a certain value, MIE(conc) starts to increase as a result of the increasingly significant heat sink effect from the particles and, at fuel-rich concentrations the no longer increasing dust cloud combustion heat.     

Experimental measurement and numerical analysis of binary hydrocarbon mixture flammability limits

The flammability limits of binary hydrocarbon mixtures in air were measured in a combustion apparatus using an innovative method developed for this apparatus. The experimental results were obtained at standard conditions (room temperature and ambient atmospheric pressure) with upward flame propagation. The experimentally determined flammability limits for pure hydrocarbons (methane and ethylene) were compared with existing data reported in the literature. Le Chatelier's Law was fit to all experimental data to obtain LFLs and UFLs for various two-component combinations of saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons (methane, ethylene, acetylene, propane, propylene, and n-butane). A modification of this law was used if experimental observations showed large deviations from Le Chatelier's predictions. Also, experimentally measured flammability limit data of the binary hydrocarbon mixtures were analytically related to the stoichiometric concentrations.     

Distinction between the upper explosion limit and the lower cool flame limit in determination of flammability limit at elevated conditions

Previous research showed that at certain conditions, close to the flammability range exists a regime where cool flame may develop either due to elevated temperature or it may be initiated by an ignition source. Propagation of the cool flame in a closed test vessel may double the initial pressure. Such pressure increase exceeds recommended ignition criteria for explosion limit determination that are based on 5 or 7% of pressure rise leading to inaccurate classification of the oxidation phenomena, i.e. cool flame propagation may be classified as hot flame propagation.Two mixtures were tested: n-butane-oxygen (extensively) and C1–C2–oxygen (in limited range), which represent a typical composition in ethylene oxide production, at elevated conditions at their upper explosion limits. Flame development was analysed by flame emission spectroscopy and the post-oxidation mixture was analysed by gas chromatography (GC) to characterise the oxidation mechanism of the flame. Additionally explosion pressure rise, flame temperature, and maximum rate of pressure rise were measured. In all experiments with the pressure rise ratio below two the low temperature oxidation mechanism assisted the flame propagation.     

Minimum ignition energy of LDPE dust/ethylene hybrid mixture

An experimental device for evaluating the minimum ignition energy (MIE) of LDPE dust/ethylene hybrid mixture was built with the innovative mixing mode. The MIE of the hybrid mixture that contained ethylene below its lower explosive limit (LEL) was studied. The result indicated that adding a small amount of ethylene significantly reduced the MIE of the original dust cloud. All the MIEs with five different particle sizes were found to show similar trends of exponential attenuation with the increase of ethylene concentration; such attenuating effect grew as the dust particle size rose. When ethylene concentration increased and approached to its LEL, the reaction mechanism dominated by combustible dust turned into one dominated by combustible gas. The MIE decreased first and then increased with the dust mass and increased with the dust particle size. A multifactor mathematical correlation model of the MIE with the dust particle size and ethylene concentration was developed.     

Minimum ignition energy of mixtures of combustible dusts

Most industrial powder processes handle mixtures of various flammable powders. Consequently, hazard evaluation leads to a reduction of the disaster damage that arises from dust explosions. Determining the minimum ignition energy (MIE) of flammable mixtures is critical for identifying possibility of accidental hazard in industry. The aim of this work is to measure the critical ignition energy of different kinds of pure dusts with various particle sizes as well as mixtures thereof.The results show that even the addition of a modest amount of a highly flammable powder to a less combustible powder has a significant impact on the MIE. The MIE varies considerably when the fraction of the highly flammable powder exceeds 20%. For dust mixtures consisting of combustible dusts, the relationship between the ignition energy of the mixture and the minimum ignition energy of the components follows the so-called harmonic model based upon the volume fraction of the pure dusts in the mixture. This correlation provides results which show satisfactory agreement with the experimental values.