Experimental research on methane/air explosion inhibition using ultrafine water mist containing methane oxidizing bacteria

In order to deeply understand the inhibitory effect of ultrafine water mist containing methane-oxidizing bacteria on methane explosion, a small-sized semi-closed visual experimental platform was built. Five different application mist amounts (0.7 mL, 2.1 mL, 3.5 mL, 4.9 mL, 6.3 mL) of ultrafine water mist containing methane-oxidizing bacteria on 9.5% methane explosion were studied experimentally. Ultrafine water mist was generated by the ultrasonic atomization generator, and mist size was measured by a winner319 laser particle size analyzer. During the methane explosion, a high-frequency pressure sensor collected pressure change data, and a high-speed camera recorded the flame development process. The results indicated that the maximum explosion overpressure (ΔP_max) decreased with time, and the arrival time of the maximum explosion overpressure (ΔP_max) delayed. The appearance time of the “tulip” shaped flame delayed, and the flame propagation speed decreased. The ultrafine water mist and deposition can effectively inhibit the methane explosion. The explosion suppression effect of the second step spraying water mist was better. The improvement of the explosion suppression effect of the ultrafine water mist containing methane-oxidizing bacteria was attributed to the degradation effect of the methane-oxidizing bacteria. Under long-term degradation, methane-oxidizing bacteria in water mist play a role in inhibiting methane explosion.     

含NaCl超细水雾抑制甲烷爆炸实验研究

为研究含NaCl添加剂超细水雾对甲烷爆炸的影响,在自制的半封闭透明管道内,进行含NaCl添加剂超细水雾抑制甲烷爆炸试验,通过检测和分析在不同NaCl浓度情况下超细水雾的粒径和甲烷爆炸的平均火焰传播速度、爆炸超压以及平均升压速率,探究NaCl浓度对超细水雾粒径及其对抑制甲烷爆炸有效性的影响。研究结果表明:NaCl浓度对超细水雾粒径影响较小;对于体积分数为9.5%的甲烷,相比于纯甲烷爆炸,其平均火焰传播速率、最大爆炸超压以及平均升压速率分别下降了53.7%,63.4%和60.7%,相比于超细纯水雾,其平均火焰传播速率、最大爆炸超压以及平均升压速率分别下降了38.6%,58%,56%;在通雾量相同的条件下,浓度为2.5%NaCl超细水雾对体积分数为9.5%的甲烷爆炸抑制性能最佳;含NaCl添加剂超细水雾的物理化学共同作用可以有效抑爆甲烷。     

Enhancement effects of methane/air explosion caused by water spraying in a sealed vessel

Experiments about the influence of ultrafine water mist on the methane/air explosion were carried out in a fully sealed visual vessel with methane concentrations of 8%, 9.5%, 11% and 12.5%. Water mists were generated by two nozzles and the droplets' Sauter Mean Diameters (SMD) were 28.2 μm and 43.3 μm respectively which were measured by Phase Doppler Particle Anemometer (PDPA). A high speed camera was used to record the flame propagation processes. The results show that the maximum explosion overpressure, pressure rising rate and flame propagation velocity of methane explosions in various concentrations increased significantly after spraying. Furthermore, the brightness of explosion flame got much higher after spraying. Besides, the mist with a larger diameter had a stronger turbulent effect and could lead to a more violent explosion reaction.     

The influence of the charge-to-mass ratio of the charged water mist on a methane explosion

To study the influence of the charge-to-mass ratio of a charged water mist on a methane explosion, the induction charging method was used to induce charge on a normal water mist; a mesh target method was employed to test the charge-to-mass ratio of its droplets. The propagation images, propagation average velocities, and overpressures of a methane explosion suppressed by charged water mist were analysed. The influence of the charge-to-mass ratio of the suppressant water mist on a methane explosion was studied. Results show that the explosion temperature, propagation average velocity, and peak overpressure deceased more obviously with charged water mist than ordinary water mist. With increasing charge-to-mass ratio, the suppression effect of the charged water mist underwent a significant increase. Under experimental conditions, compared with ordinary water mist, when the charge-to-mass ratio was 0.445 mC/kg and the mist flux was 4 L, the minimum flame propagation average velocity was 3.456 m/s, with a drop of 2.37 m/s (40.68%), and the peak overpressure of the methane explosion was 10.892 kPa, with a drop of 10.798 kPa (49.78%). The suppression effect is considered from the changes of the physico-chemical properties of the water mist as affected by the applied charge-to-mass ratio.     

CO2-超细水雾对瓦斯/煤尘爆炸抑制特性研究

为了解CO2-超细水雾对瓦斯/煤尘爆炸抑制特性,用自行搭建的实验系统,从超压、火焰传播速度和火焰结构3个方面研究了CO2-超细水雾形成的气液两相介质对9.5%瓦斯/煤尘复合体系爆炸的抑爆效果、影响因素与原因。研究结果表明:随着CO2体积分数和超细水雾质量浓度的增加,爆炸火焰最大传播速度、爆炸超压峰值均出现明显下降,火焰到达泄爆口时间显著延迟;尤其当CO2体积分数达到14%与超细水雾的共同抑爆效果凸显,瓦斯/煤尘复合体系爆炸超压的“震荡平台”消失,同时火焰结构呈现“整体孔隙化”。所得结论为煤矿井下高效防爆抑爆技术进行了完善和增强。     

Experimental study on the inhibition of methane/air explosion by modified attapulgite powder

In order to explore the influence of attapulgite powder on the methane explosion, a small-size semi-closed visual explosion experiment platform was built, and experiments were carried out. The effect of spraying powder on the whole process of methane explosion was studied when methane concentration was 7%, 8%, 9.5%, 11% and 12%, respectively. When the methane concentration was 11%, the maximum explosion overpressure dropped by modified spraying attapulgite powder was as high as 33.26%, and at the same time, the reduction rate of flame propagation velocity reached the maximum value of 36.65%. Furthermore, when the methane concentration was 9.5%, the experimental results when the powder spraying amount of modified attapulgite was 120 mg, 160 mg, 200 mg, 240 mg and 280 mg showed that when the powder spraying was 240 mg, the maximum explosive overpressure decreased by 33.14%, and the reduction rate of the peak flame propagation velocity reached the maximum value of 33.73%. Through the video images recorded by the high-speed camera, the flame structure, shape, color, etc. Were analyzed. The characterization analysis illustrated that the modified attapulgite powder has a small particle size, relatively large porosity and specific surface area. Also, it has a high weight loss rate. Combined with the results of characterization analysis, the explosion suppression mechanism of modified attapulgite powder was discussed. It was found that the modified attapulgite powder could effectively absorb the active free radicals generated in the explosion, and the modified new chemical components have a better thermal decomposition and endothermic effect and a better suppression of methane explosions.     

Study on the characteristics of gas explosion affected by induction charged water mist in confined space

To investigate the suppression effect of charged water mist on gas explosion, a small charged water mist generator and a gas explosion simulation device were designed based on the principle of electrostatic induction. Experiments for testing characteristics of the gas explosion in a confined space under different charged polarities, charged voltages and mist fluxes were carried out. Experimental results indicated that, compared with the normal water mist, the explosion peak overpressure and the flame propagation speed could be more effectively reduced by the charged water mist. And this suppression effect could be promoted by increasing the charged voltage. To visualize the effect of the charged water mist's polarity on gas explosion, comparative experiments were conducted. The results showed that the explosion peak overpressure, the overpressure rising rate, and the propagation speed of the flame were reduced by 64.7%, 33.0% and 19.4%, respectively, when a +8 kV charged voltage was applied. In situation where a -8 kV charged voltage was applied, 64.1%, 26.5% and 16.0% reductions were achieved for the explosion peak overpressure, the overpressure rising rate, and the flame propagation speed respectively. Comparison of this data leads to the conclusion that the gas explosion could be more efficiently suppressed by the positively charged water mist.     

The effect of orifice plates with different shapes on explosion propagation of premixed methane–air in a semi-confined pipeline

The effect of internal shape of obstacles on the deflagration of premixed methane–air (concentration of 10%) was experimentally investigated in a semi-confined steel pipeline (with a square cross section size of 80 mm × 80 mm and 4 m long). The obstacles used in this study were circular, square, triangular and gear-shaped (4-teeth, 6-teeth and 8-teeth) orifice plates with a blockage ratio of 75%, and the perimeter of the orifice was regarded as a criterion for determining the sharpness of the orifice plate. The overpressure history, flame intensity histories, flame front propagation speed, maximum flame intensity and peak explosion overpressure were analyzed. The explosion in the pipeline can be divided into two stages: initial explosion and secondary explosion. The secondary explosion is caused by recoiled flame. The perimeter is positively related to the intensity of the recoiled flame and the ability of orifice plate to suppress the explosion propagation. In addition, the increase in the perimeter will cause the acceleration of the flame passing through the orifice plate, while after the perimeter of the orifice reaches a certain value, the effect of the increase in perimeter on explosion excitation becomes no obvious. The overpressure (static pressure) downstream of the orifice plate is the result of the combined effect of explosion intensity and turbulence. The increase in perimeter leads to the increase in turbulence downstream of the orifice plate which in turn causes more explosion pressure to be converted into dynamic pressure.     

Methane/coal dust/air explosions and their suppression by solid particle suppressing agents in a large-scale experimental tube

Methane/coal dust/air explosions under strong ignition conditions have been studied in a 199 mm inner diameter and 30.8 m long horizontal tube. A fuel gas/air manifold assembly was used to introduce methane and air into the experimental tube, and an array of 44 equally spaced dust dispersion units was used to disperse coal dust particles into the tube. The methane/coal dust/air mixture was ignited by a 7 m long epoxypropane mist cloud explosion. A deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) was observed, and a self-sustained detonation wave characterized by the existence of a transverse wave was propagated in the methane/coal dust/air mixtures.The suppressing effects on methane/coal dust/air mixture explosions of three solid particle suppressing agents have been studied. Coal dust and the suppressing agent were injected into the experimental tube by the dust dispersion units. The length of the suppression was 14 m. The suppression agents examined in this study comprised ABC powder, SiO₂ powder, and rock dust powder (CaCO₃). Methane/coal dust/air explosions can be efficiently suppressed by the suppression agents characterized by the rapid decrease in overpressure and propagating velocity of the explosion waves.     

超细水雾抑制甲烷爆炸的实验研究(英文)

用自行设计的三面透明的细水雾抑制甲烷爆炸的实验装置,研究了不同体积超细水雾对不同浓度甲烷爆炸的抑制现象。运用GigaView高速摄影观察了超细水雾抑制甲烷爆炸的过程,并且对现象进行了分析。采用四个E12-1-K型快速响应热电偶获取超细水雾抑爆过程中四个不同位置的温度变化情况,并且讨论了甲烷浓度和超细水雾体积对爆炸延迟时间的影响。实验结果表明,超细水雾对甲烷爆炸的抑制效果是与水雾的体积和甲烷浓度紧密相关的。初步确定了超细水雾抑制甲烷爆炸的临界体积。     

Modelling the mitigation of a hydrogen deflagration in a nuclear waste silo ullage with water fog

During the decommissioning of certain legacy nuclear waste storage plants it is possible that significant releases of hydrogen gas could occur. Such an event could result in the formation of a flammable mixture within the silo ullage and, hence, the potential risk of ignition and deflagration occurring, threatening the structural integrity of the silo. Very fine water mist fogs have been suggested as a possible method of mitigating the overpressure rise, should a hydrogen–air deflagration occur. In the work presented here, the FLACS CFD code has been used to predict the potential explosion overpressure reduction that might be achieved using water fog mitigation for a range of scenarios where a hydrogen–air mixture, of a pre-specified concentration (containing 800 L of hydrogen), uniformly fills a volume located in a model silo ullage space, and is ignited giving rise to a vented deflagration. The simulation results suggest that water fog could significantly reduce the peak explosion overpressure, in a silo ullage, for lower concentration hydrogen–air mixtures up to 20%, but would require very high fog densities to be achieved to mitigate 30% hydrogen–air mixtures.     

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.     

Experimental study on the mitigation via an ultra-fine water mist of methane/coal dust mixture explosions in the presence of obstacles

In this paper, experimental investigations were performed for the mitigation via an ultra-fine water mist of methane/coal dust mixture explosions in the presence of obstacles to reveal the effects of the obstacles in this scenario. Two PCB piezo-electronic pressure transducers were used to acquire the pressure history, a Fastcam Ultima APX high-speed video camera was used to visualize both the process of the mixture explosion and its mitigation. The diameters of the coal dust, the types of obstacles and the volumes of ultra-fine water mist were varied in the tests. The parameters of the explosion overpressure and the range of critical volume flux of the ultra-fine water mist for explosion mitigation were determined. The results show that the mixture explosion and its mitigation are primarily influenced by the number, shape and set locations of the obstacles. When the volume flux of the water mist is larger than a certain amount, the mixture explosions and the effects of obstacles can be completely mitigated with the ultra-fine water mist.     

Experimental study on the feasibility of explosion suppression by vacuum chambers

In view of the invalidity of suppression and isolation apparatus for gas explosion, a closed vacuum chamber structure for explosion suppression with a fragile plane was designed on the base of the suction of vacuum. Using methane as combustible gas, a series of experiments on gas explosion were carried out to check the feasibility of the vacuum chamber suppressing explosion by changing methane concentration and geometric structure of the vacuum chamber. When the vacuum chamber was not connected to the tunnel, detonation would happen in the tunnel at methane volume fraction from 9.3% to 11.5%, with flame propagation velocity exceeding 2000 m/s, maximum peak value overpressure reaching 0.7 MPa, and specific impulse of shock wave running up to 20 kPa s. When the vacuum chamber with 5/34 of the tunnel volume was connected to the flank of the tunnel, gas explosion of the same concentration would greatly weaken with flame propagation velocity declining to about 200 m/s, the quenching distance decreasing to 3/4 of the tunnel length, maximum peak value overpressure running down to 0.1-0.15 MPa and specific impulse of shock wave below 0.9 kPa s. The closer the position accessed to the ignition end, the greater explosion intensity weakened. There was no significant difference between larger section and smaller vacuum chambers in degree of maximum peak value overpressure and specific impulse declining, except that quenching fire effect of the former was superior to the latter. The distance of fire quenching could be improved by increasing the number of the vacuum chambers.     

Experimental study on explosion characteristics of ethanol-gasoline blended fuels

In the present work, a series of experiments have been performed to analyze the explosion characteristics of ethanol-gasoline with various blended ratios (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 30%, 50%, 70%, 80%, and 100%). A vented rectangular vessel with a cross-section of 100 mm × 100 mm, 600 mm long and a 40 mm diameter vent on the top is used to carry out the experiments. The flame propagation is recorded by a phantom high-speed camera with 5000 fps, while the histories of the explosion overpressure are measured by two PCB pressure sensors and the explosion sound pressure level is obtained by a CRY sound sensor. The results indicate that the maximum overpressure and flame propagation speed increases linearly as the blended ratio increases when the initial volume of blended fuel is 1.0 mL; While the change of explosion overpressure and flame propagation speed shows a trend of decreasing at first and then increasing as the concentration increases to 1.8 mL. It is also found that the peak of the sound pressure level exceeds 100 dB under all tests, which would damage the human's hearing. What's more, relationships between explosion overpressure and sound pressure level are examined, and the change of the maximum overpressure can be reflected to some extent by the measurement of the maximum sound pressure level. The study is significant to reveal the essential characteristic of the explosion venting process of ethanol-gasoline under different initial blended ratios, and the results would help deepen the understanding of ethanol-gasoline blended fuels explosion and the assessment of the explosion hazardous.     

标准受限空间内细水雾熄灭煤油火的实验和数值模拟

在3.0m×3.0m×2.8m标准受限空间内,采用煤油模拟池火,火灾功率设定为195kW,进行了一系列细水雾灭火试验。对灭火时间做了详细记录,并实验研究了灭火时间的重现性及其相关因素。采用M-9000燃烧分析仪对细水雾施加前后火灾烟气(如氧气、二氧化碳、一氧化碳、一氧化氮、二氧化氮、二氧化硫)的浓度进行了在线测量。其结果表明:细水雾灭火系统熄灭煤油火的时间均在20s以内,灭火时间重现性保持在91.9%以内;施加细水雾后,氧气浓度降低,一氧化碳浓度升高,燃烧更加不完全。采用FDS模拟了细水雾熄灭煤油火,预测的温度场和灭火时间与实验结果吻合较好。     

Effects of premixed methane concentration on distribution of flame region and hazard effects in a tube and a tunnel gas explosion

Study of flame distribution laws and the hazard effects in a tunnel gas explosion accident is of great importance for safety issue. However, it has not yet been fully explored. The object of present work is mainly to study the effects of premixed gas concentration on the distribution law of the flame region and the hazard effects involving methane-air explosion in a tube and a tunnel based on experimental and numerical results. The experiments were conducted in a tube with one end closed and the other open. The tube was partially filled with premixed methane-air mixture with six different premixed methane concentrations. Major simulation works were performed in a full-scale tunnel with a length of 1000 m. The first 56 m of the tunnel were occupied by methane–air mixture. Results show that the flame region is always longer than the original gas region in any case. Concentration has significant effects on the flame region distribution and the explosion behaviors. In the tube, peak overpressures and maximum rates of overpressure rise (dp/dt)_max for mixtures with lower and higher concentrations are great lower than that for mixtures close to stoichiometric concentration. Due to the gas diffusion effect, not the stoichiometric mixture but the mixture with a slightly higher concentration of 11% gets the highest peak overpressure and the shock wave speed along the tube. In the full-scale tunnel, for fuel lean and stoichiometric mixture, the maximum peak combustion rates is achieved before arriving at the boundary of the original methane accumulation region, while for fuel rich mixture, the maximum value appears beyond the region. It is also found that the flame region for the case of stoichiometric mixture is the shortest as 72 m since the higher explosion intensity shortens the gas diffusion time. The case for concentration of 13% can reach up to a longest value of 128 m for longer diffusion time and the abundant fuel. The “serious injury and death” zone caused by shock wave may reach up to 3–8 times of the length of the original methane occupied region, which is the widest damage region.     

Explosibility of cork dust in methane/air mixtures

Explosibility studies of hybrid methane/air/cork dust mixtures were carried out in a near-spherical 22.7 L explosibility test chamber, using 2500 J pyrotechnic ignitors. The suspension dust burned as methane/air/dust clouds and the uniformity of the cork dust dispersion inside the chamber was evaluated through optical dust probes and during the explosion the pressure and the temperature evolution inside the reactor were measured. Tested dust particles had mass median diameter of 71.3 μm and the covered dust cloud concentration was up to 550 g/m³. Measured explosions parameters included minimum explosion concentration, maximum explosion pressures and maximum rate of pressure rise. The cork dust explosion behavior in hybrid methane/air mixtures was studied for atmospheres with 1.98 and 3.5% (v/v) of methane. The effect of methane content on the explosions characteristic parameters was evaluated. The conclusion is that the risk and explosion danger rises with the increase of methane concentration characterized by the reduction of the minimum dust explosion concentration, as methane content increases in the atmosphere. The maximum explosion pressure is not very much sensitive to the methane content and only for the system with 3.5% (v/v) of methane it was observed an increase of maximum rate of pressure rise, when compared with the value obtained for the air/dust system.     

长径比对管道油气爆炸特性与火焰传播规律影响研究*

为了探究长径比对油气爆炸传播特性与火焰传播规律的影响,为复杂管道受限空间油气爆炸防控提供理论参考,结合油气爆炸与爆炸抑制工程实际需要,构建不同长径比管道油气爆炸模拟实验系统,在此基础上开展不同初始浓度的预混油气-空气混合气爆炸实验。研究结果表明:管道内部的预混油气爆炸超压信号呈先上升后下降的趋势,由于耗散以及憋压效应导致超压下降平稳后仍大于初始压力;同时长径比增加会导致达到最大爆炸超压的油气浓度增加,油气爆炸超压峰值随着长径比的增加呈现上升→下降→上升的规律,小长径比管道的油气爆炸超压峰值高于大长径比管道,但同为小长径比管道或大长径比管道工况的实验结果对比显示爆炸超压峰值随着长径比增加而提升;而超压上升速率则会随着长径比的增加而上升;长径比的增加同时也会促进火焰的加速传播并减小火焰持续时间。     

滑移装置抑制甲烷爆炸影响分析*

为减少瓦斯二次爆炸带来的危害,研发新型抑爆弹性滑移装置,并将滑移装置与固定装置对比,分析其对9.5%甲烷/空气预混气体爆炸抑制效果。结果表明:滑移装置抑爆效果优于固定装置;滑移装置能缩短火焰燃烧时间,固定装置超压峰值高于滑移装置;由于轻碳板反向速度提高,弹性系数为0.85 N/mm的滑移装置对火焰和超压抑制效果优于弹性系数为1.63 N/mm的滑移装置。