The influence of inert gas on limiting experimental safe gap of fuel-air mixtures at various initial pressures

The Maximum Experimental Safe Gap (MESG) is an important criterion to assess the propagation of flames through small gaps. This safety-related parameter is used to classify the flammable gases and vapors in explosion groups, which are fundamental to constructional explosion protection. It is used both, for the safe design of flameproof encapsulated devices as well as for selecting flame arresters appropriate to the individual application. The MESG of a fuel is determined experimentally according to the standard ISO/IEC 80079-20-1:2017 at normal conditions (20 °C, 1.0 bar) with air as oxidizing gas. The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of inert gas addition on the MESG in order to assess the effectiveness of inertization in constructional explosion protection. The term limiting experimental safe gap (S_G) is used for the result of these measurements. The fuel-air mixtures (fuels: hydrogen, ethylene, propene, methane) used as representatives for the explosion groups in flame arrester testing were chosen and diluted with inert gas (nitrogen, carbon dioxide) before testing. The dependence of the limiting experimental safe gap on the total initial pressure, amount and nature of inert additive is discussed. The initial pressure was varied up to 2.0 bar to include increased pressure conditions used in flame arrester testing. Apart from the well-known reciprocal dependence on the initial pressure, the added inert gas results in an exponential increase of S_G. This effect depends on the inertizing potential of the gas and is therefore different with nitrogen and carbon dioxide. The ranking of the fuels is the same as with MESG. As a result, various mixtures of the same limiting experimental safe gap can now be chosen and tested with an individual flame arrester to prove the concept of a constant and device-related limiting safe gap. The work was funded by BG-RCI in Heidelberg (PTB grant number 37056).     

Numerical studies on minimum ignition energies in methane/air and iso-octane/air mixtures

In this study, the dependence of minimum ignition energies (MIE) on ignition geometry, ignition source radius and mixture composition is investigated numerically for methane/air and iso-octane/air mixtures. Methane and iso-octane are both important hydrocarbon fuels, but differ strongly with respect to their Lewis numbers. Lean iso-octane air mixtures have particularly large Lewis numbers. The results show that within the flammability limits, the MIE for both mixtures stays almost constant, and increases rapidly at the limits. The MIEs for both fuels are also similar within the flammability limits. Furthermore, the MIEs of iso-octane/air mixtures with a small spherical ignition source increase rapidly for lean mixtures. Here the Lewis number is above unity, and thus, the flame may quench because of flame curvature effects. The observations show a distinct difference between ignition and flame propagation for iso-octane. The minimum energy required for initiating a successful flame propagation can be considerably higher than that required for initiating an ignition in the ignition volume. For iso-octane with a small spherical ignition source, this effect was observed at all equivalence ratios. For iso-octane with cylindrical ignition sources, the phenomenon appeared at lower equivalence ratios only, where the mixture's Lewis number is large. For methane fuel, the effect was negligible. The results highlight the significance of molecular transport properties on the decision whether or not an ignitable mixture can evolve into a propagating flame.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Effect of spark duration on explosion parameters of methane/air mixtures in closed vessels

The paper outlines an experimental study on influence of the spark duration and the vessel volume on explosion parameters of premixed methane–air mixtures in the closed explosion vessels. The main findings from these experiments are: For the weaker ignition the spark durations in the range from 6.5 μs to 40.6 μs had little impact on explosion parameters for premixed methane–air mixtures in the 5 L vessel or 20 L vessel; For the same ignitions and volume fractions of methane in air the explosion pressures and the flame temperatures in both vessels of 5 L and 20 L were approximately the same, but the rates of pressure rises in both vessels of 5 L and 20 L were different; The explosion indexes obtained from the measured pressure time histories for both vessels of 5 L and 20 L were approximately equal; For the weaker ignition with the fixed spark duration 45 μs the ignition energies in the range from 54 mJ to 430 mJ had little impact on the explosion parameters; For the same ignition and the volume fractions of methane in air, the vessel volumes had a significant impact on the flame temperatures near the vessel wall; The flame temperatures near the vessel wall decreased as the vessel volumes increased.     

Combined effects of initial pressure and turbulence on explosions of hydrogen-enriched methane/air mixtures

Hydrogen-enrichment has been proposed as a useful method to overcome drawbacks (local flame extinction, combustion instabilities, lower power output, etc.) associated to turbulent premixed combustion of natural gas in both stationary and mobile systems. For the safe use of hydrogen-enriched hydrocarbon fuels, explosion data are needed.In this work, a comparative experimental study of the explosion behavior of stoichiometric hydrogen-enriched methane/air (with 10% of hydrogen molar content in the fuel) and pure methane/air mixtures is presented. Tests were carried out in a 5 l closed cylindrical vessel at different initial pressures (1, 3 and 6 bar), and starting from both quiescent and turbulent conditions.Results allow quantifying the combined effects of hydrogen substitution to methane, pressure and turbulence on maximum pressure, maximum rate of pressure rise, burning velocity and Markstein lengths.     

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.     

Experimental research on explosibility at high initial pressures of combustible dusts

In recent years some explosibility experiments were carried out by LOM (Spain) to look into the behaviour of the combustible dusts at hyperbaric pressures. In this way, different aspects were studied, such as the effect of initial pressure on the explosion development, the influence of the effective present turbulence or preventative existing techniques such as inertization.This paper contains a summary of the different tests performed, which covered a range of initial pressure from 1 to 15 bar. Several fuels were used within the works, and their main features are described to facilitate understanding the results.     

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.     

Theoretical estimation of the lower flammability limit of fuel-air mixtures at elevated temperatures and pressures

We present an approach for predicting the lower flammability limits of combustible gas in air. The influence of initial pressure and temperature on lower flammability limit has been examined in this study. The lower flammability limits of methane, ethylene and propane in air are estimated numerically at the pressure from one to 100 bar and the temperature from ambient to 1200 K. It was found that the predicted LFLs of methane, ethylene and propane decrease slightly with the elevated pressure at the high temperature. The LFLs variation for methane-air mixture is 0.17, 0.18, 0.18 volume% with the initial pressure from one to 100  bar at the initial temperature of 800 K, 1000 K and 1200 K respectively, which is significantly higher than that at lower temperature. And the LFL of methane-air mixture at 1200 K and 100 bar reaches 1.03 volume% which is much lower than that at 1 bar and ambient temperature. On the other hand, the LFLs variation is 0.11–0.12 volume% for ethylene-air mixture and 0.06–0.07 volume% for propane-air mixture with the initial temperature from 800 K to 1200 K at the same range of pressure. The LFL values at high temperatures and pressures represent higher risk of explosion.     

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.     

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.     

Explosions and deflagration-to-detonation transitions in epoxy propane/air mixtures

The explosion and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in epoxy propane (E.P.) vapor/air mixture clouds under weak ignition conditions has been studied in an experimental tube of diameter 199 mm and length 29.6 m. E.P. vapor clouds were formed by injecting liquid E.P. into the experimental tube and evaporating of the fine E.P. droplets. The dimension and the evaporating process of the E.P. droplet were measured and analyzed. The E.P. vapor/air mixture clouds were ignited by an electric spark with an ignition energy of 40 J. The characteristics and the stages of the DDT process in the E.P. vapor/air mixtures have been studied and analyzed. A self-sustained detonation wave formed, as was evident from the existence of a transverse wave and a cellular structure. Moreover, a retonation wave formed during the DDT process in the E.P. vapor/air mixture. The influence of the E.P. vapor concentration on the DDT process has been studied. The minimum E.P. vapor concentration for the occurrence of the DDT in the E.P. vapor/air mixture has been evaluated and the variation of DDT distance with E.P. vapor concentration has been analyzed.     

Modeling of detonation processes in chemically active bubble systems at normal and elevated initial pressures

The detonation processes in chemically active bubble liquids under elevated initial pressures are investigated theoretically. It is shown, that supersonic regimes of wave propagation can exist, if the initial pressure is relatively high and the volume fraction of the bubbles is relatively small. Characteristic values of the bubble detonation wave pressure at sub- and supersonic regimes differ by an order of magnitude.The principal possibility of detonation wave structure transformation in the case of propagation in the mixture with high initial pressure and longitudinal gradient of bubble volume fraction is predicted. The leading shock may transform into a smooth wave of compression.The Chapman-Jouguet conditions for self-sustaining supersonic bubble detonation wave is obtained.A model of shock induced single bubble dynamics and ignition taking into account the real properties of the liquid, inter-phase transition processes, mechanical mixing of phases, ignition delay and continuous shift of chemical equilibrium have been described. Calculations for the oxygen containing bubble in liquid cyclohexane have been performed.     

Electrostatic spark ignition of sensitive dust clouds of MIE<1 mJ

Accidental electrostatic sparks in industrial plant producing/handling powders/dusts occur whenever a non-earthed electrically conducting object has been charged tribo-electrically to a high voltage and suddenly discharges its energy to earth via an air gap of appropriate length. When assessing the electrostatic spark ignition hazard in an industrial plant, the parameters of prime concern are the capacitances C of electrically conducting plant items that may become charged tribo-electrically, the voltages U to which they may become charged, and the minimum electric spark ignition energies (MIE) of the dust clouds of concern. Whenever , there is a possibility of accidental electrostatic spark ignition.

Current standard apparatuses for determining MIE of dust clouds have a lower spark energy limit of 2–3 mJ. In an investigation by the present authors, discussed in detail elsewhere, a new spark generator capable of producing synchronized capacitive sparks of energies down to the order of 0.01 mJ was developed and used for testing a selection of ignition-sensitive powders for MIE. Several of the MIEs found were 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than the lower energy limit of current standard test apparatus. Other experiments by the present authors, also reported elsewhere, have shown that quite low MIEs can be found for some dusts even with a less optimal synchronization mechanism, which may occur accidentally in practice.

The main object of the present paper is to discuss possible practical concerns arising from the finding that clouds in air of some dusts can have very low MIEs. In such cases, one may have to pay attention to even minor C values, i.e. minor plant items. Alternatively, with larger C values, even quite low voltages may give rise to hazardous spark discharges.

However, some types of fine metal powders of low MIEs will quite readily form electrically conductive layers on the solid surfaces with which they make contact. Hence, electrostatic spark ignition inside process equipment containing such dusts may be less probable than in the case of process equipment containing non-conducting dusts of correspondingly low MIEs.

There may be a need for a new standard test method for determination of MIEs of dust clouds in the <1 mJ range.     

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.     

Methane–air mixtures ignited by CW laser-heated targets on optical fiber tips: Comparison of targets,optical fibers,and ignition delays

Fiber optic systems are being deployed in locations where explosive gas atmospheres are normally present or are present under fault conditions. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Pittsburgh Research Laboratory (NIOSH, PRL) conducted a study of laser safety in potentially flammable environments. Researchers conducted experiments to estimate the mean and standard deviation of laser powers needed to ignite 6% methane–air atmospheres using single mode optical fiber tips covered by two types of iron oxide (Fe₃O₄ and (FeMn)₂O₃) mixed with a ceramic adhesive. The iron oxides, heated by a 1064 nm continuous wave laser, ignited the methane–air mixtures at similar powers. The minimum igniting power and maximum non-igniting power (10 tests) were 407 and 350 mW, respectively, using a 62.5 μm fiber. Laser beams guided by 125 and 80 μm diameter cladding single mode fibers produced similar methane–air igniting powers. Ignition was not observed using coal particles at powers that produced ignition with the iron oxides. Threshold ignition delays using the single mode fiber were approximately proportional to the inverse square of the igniting power. Ignition delays were significantly longer than the reported activation time for a commercial fiber optic power limiter. Comparisons are made with the results of other researchers.     

Effect of ignition delay on explosion parameters of corn dust/air in confined chamber

This paper presents the explosion parameters of corn dust/air mixtures in confined chamber. The measurements were conducted in a setup which comprises a 5 L explosion chamber, a dust dispersion sub-system, and a transient pressure measurement sub-system. The influences of the ignition delay on the pressure and the rate of pressure rise for the dust/air explosion have been discussed based on the experimental data. It is found that at the lower concentrations, the explosion pressure and the rate of pressure rise of corn dust/air mixtures decrease as the ignition delay increases from 60 ms; But at the higher concentrations, the explosion pressure and the rate of pressure rise increase slightly as the ignition delay increases from 60 ms to 80 ms, and decrease beyond 80 ms. The maximum explosion pressure of corn dust/air mixtures reaches its highest value equal to 0.79 MPa at the concentration of 1000 gm⁻³.     

酒精蒸气/烟草粉尘两相混合体系最小点火能试验研究

在烟草加工的加香工序,挥发的酒精和搅拌混料产生的烟草粉尘形成气粉混合体系,其燃爆特性相较于单相烟草粉尘有较大变化。对20 L爆炸球进行了部分改造,可完成20℃～80℃环境温度、100%LEL以下酒精蒸气浓度、最大2 J电火花能量组合的气粉混合物的最小点火能测试。选用烘丝和加香烟草粉尘做对比,探究了环境温度和酒精蒸气浓度对酒精蒸气/烟草粉尘两相混合体系点火能的影响规律。结果表明：相同环境温度下,加香烟草粉尘的最小点火能比烘丝烟草粉尘低;加香粉尘、烘丝粉尘及混合体系的最小点火能随环境温度变化的趋势一致,均随温度的升高而降低;加入10%LEL的酒精蒸气后,相同温度下气粉混合体系的最小点火能低于单相烟草粉尘。随着环境温度的升高,二者的差值逐渐减小,酒精蒸气诱导烟草粉尘最小点火能降低的能力逐步减小甚至消失;在电点火条件下,当酒精蒸气浓度低于50%LEL时,气粉混合体系较难被点燃,当酒精蒸气浓度高于75%LEL时,混合体系较易被点燃。