Prediction of distance to maximum intensity of turbulence generated by grid plate obstacles in explosion-induced flows

The interaction of unburnt gas flow induced in an explosion with an obstacle results in the production of turbulence downstream of the obstacle and the acceleration of the flame when it reaches this turbulence. Currently, there are inadequate experimental measurements of these turbulent flows in gas explosions due to transient nature of explosion flows and the connected harsh conditions. Hence, majority of measurements of turbulent properties downstream of obstacles are done using steady-state flows rather than transient flows. Consequently, an empirical based correlation to predict distance to maximum intensity of turbulence downstream of an obstacle in an explosion-induced flow using the available steady state experiments was developed in this study. The correlation would serve as a prerequisite for determining an optimum spacing between obstacles thereby determining worst case gas explosions overpressure and flame speeds. Using a limited experimental work on systematic study of obstacle spacing, the correlation was validated against 13 different test conditions. A ratio of the optimum spacing from the experiment, x_exp to the predicted optimum spacing, x_pred for all the tests was between 2-4. This shows that a factor of three higher than the x_pred would be required to produce optimum obstacle spacing that will lead to maximum explosion severity. In planning the layout of new installations, it is appropriate to identify the relevant worst case obstacle separation in order to avoid it. In assessing the risk to existing installations and taking appropriate mitigation measures it is important to evaluate such risk on the basis of a clear understanding of the effects of separation distance and congestion. It is therefore suggested that the various new correlations obtained from this work be subjected to further rigorous validation from relevant experimental data prior to been applied as design tools.     

The acceleration of flames in tube explosions with two obstacles as a function of the obstacle separation distance

The separation distance (or pitch) between two successive obstacles or rows of obstacles is an important parameter in the acceleration of flame propagation and increase in explosion severity. Whilst this is generally recognised, it has received little specific attention by investigators. In this work a vented cylindrical vessel 162 mm in diameter 4.5 m long was used to study the effect of separation distance of two low blockage (30%) obstacles. The set up was demonstrated to produce overpressure through the fast flame speeds generated (i.e. in a similar mechanism to vapour cloud explosions). A worst case separation distance was found to be 1.75 m which produced close to 3 bar overpressure and a flame speed of about 500 m/s. These values were of the order of twice the overpressure and flame speed with a double obstacle separated 2.75 m (83 characteristic obstacle length scales) apart. The profile of effects with separation distance was shown to agree with the cold flow turbulence profile determined in cold flows by other researchers. However, the present results showed that the maximum effect in explosions is experienced further downstream than the position of maximum turbulence determined in the cold flow studies. It is suggested that this may be due to the convection of the turbulence profile by the propagating flame. The present results would suggest that in many previous studies of repeated obstacles the separation distance investigated might not have included the worst case set up, and therefore existing explosion protection guidelines may not be derived from worst case scenarios.     

有障碍物半开口管道内氢气燃烧数值模拟研究

基于有障碍物氢气燃烧实验装置进行数值模拟研究,采用Fluent软件分析了半开口管道内障碍物对氢气/空气燃烧特性的影响。结果表明:障碍物会促进实验管段内氢气火焰加速,随着障碍物阻塞率和数量的增加,火焰加速更快且燃烧压力峰值更大;在相同阻塞率下,障碍物形状对氢气火焰速度和燃烧压力峰值的影响很小;燃烧压力随障碍物间距的增大先增大后减小,障碍物间距为3倍管道内径时产生的燃烧压力峰值最大。     

LES – DFSD modelling of vented hydrogen explosions in a small-scale combustion chamber

Accidental explosions are a plausible danger to the chemical process industries. In the event of a gas explosion, any obstacles placed within the path of the flame generate turbulence, which accelerates the transient flame and raises explosion overpressure, posing a safety hazard. This paper presents numerical studies using an in-house computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for lean premixed hydrogen/air flame propagations with an equivalence ratio of 0.7. A laboratory-scale combustion chamber is used with repeated solid obstacles. The transient compressible large eddy simulation (LES) modelling technique combined with a dynamic flame surface density (DFSD) combustion model is used to carry out the numerical simulations in three-dimensional space. The study presented uses eight different baffle configurations with two solid obstructions, which have area blockage ratios of 0.24 and 0.5. The flame speed, maximum rate of pressure-rise as well as peak overpressure magnitude and timing are presented and discussed. Numerical results are validated against available published experimental data. It is concluded that, increasing the solid obstacle area blockage ratio and the number of consecutive baffles results in a raised maximum rate of pressure rise, higher peak explosion overpressure and faster flame propagation. Future model development would require more experimental data, probably in a more congested configuration.     

Effects of obstacles and deposited coal dust on characteristics of premixed methane–air explosions in a long closed pipe

An experimental system including pressure transducer, electric spark ignition device, data acquisition and control unit was set up to investigate methane–air explosions in a horizontal pipe closed at both ends with or without the presence of obstacles and deposited coal dust. The experimental results show that explosion characteristics depended on the methane content, on the layout of obstacles, and on the deposited coal dust. Pressure fluctuation with a frequency of 150 Hz appeared in its crest when the methane content was close to the stoichiometric ratio (9.5% methane percentage by volume). The pressure rise rate increased locally when a single obstacle was mounted in the pipe, but it had little effect on the pressure peak. Repeated obstacles mounted in the pipe caused the pressure to rise sharply, and the mean maximum explosion overpressure increased with the increase of the obstacle’s number. The amplitude of pressure fluctuation was reduced when deposited coal dust was paved in the bottom of the pipe. However, when repeated obstacles were arranged inside, the maximum overpressures were higher with coal dust deposited than pure gas explosions.     

Effects of multiple annular obstacles on flame propagation of local corn starch dust in a vertical pipe

With high-speed camera technology, the propagation behavior of explosion flame for the local dust cloud of corn starch in a semi-open vertical pipe under the action of the annular obstacle was studied experimentally, and the blockage rate and the annular obstacle numbers as well as impact of dust cloud concentration on the flame propagation were investigated. The researches showed that both the blockage rate and the annular obstacle numbers have significant effects on the flame speed and propagation process for the dust cloud explosion of corn starch. The increase of the blockage rate of such annular obstacles will cause that the combustion of dust cloud with high concentration is mainly concentrated in the lower part of the pipe. The increase of the annular obstacle numbers will lead to the acceleration of combustion of the dust cloud. With the increase of the blockage rate and the annular obstacle numbers, the maximum flame speed shows a trend of the first increasing and then decreasing, and the phenomenon of accelerated propagation of the flame becomes more and more obvious, however, the distance of continuous acceleration for the flame is gradually decreased and the maximum flame speed is farther from the outlet of the pipe. Under the action of such annular obstacles, the concentration of dust cloud has a significant effect on the flame speed and shape of the dust cloud of the corn starch. The increase of the concentration of the dust cloud will decrease the acceleration effect of such annular obstacles to result in maximum flame speed showing a trend of the first increasing and then decreasing. However, the acceleration distance of the flame is longer, and the maximum flame speed is closer to the outlet of the pipe. The increasing concentration will make the flame speed develop more slowly, the flame color will be darker, and the flame segmentation phenomenon will be more obvious.     

Experimental research into effects of obstacle on methane-coal dust hybrid explosion

An experimental system including pressure transducer, data acquisition card, computer and electric spark ignition device was set up to research methane-coal dust hybrid explosions in closed tubes with different types of obstacles inside. Its dynamic response time was less than a millisecond and the test precision was 0.1%. The experimental results show that the obstacles had great effects on the explosion characteristics in the tube. Hollow obstacles linked with inner wall of the tube induced faster pressure rising than installed center blocked solid obstacles. Obstacles with more sharp corner induce more violent explosions. The most dangerous explosion occurred when spacing between obstacles almost equaled the inner diameter of the tube for the same size obstacle.     

Evaluation of a CFD porous model for calculating ventilation in explosion hazard assessments

In the past, gas explosion assessment relied on worst case scenarios. A more realistic approach is to look at the probability of explosions and their likely severity. The most flexible way of investigating many different scenarios is to estimate a ventilation flow, feed this into a flammable volume calculation and then calculate the explosion severity. The procedure allows many parameters to be varied efficiently. A Computational Fluid Dynamics porous model is evaluated for modelling the ventilation flow through congested regions, including a new method that has been developed to derive the resistance. Comparison with velocity measurements from a large scale model of an offshore module showed that overall the CFD model performs very well, especially considering that the homogenous porosity block does not model any of the internal obstructions and therefore would not predict any local flow effects. This gives confidence that the overall flow pattern is sufficiently close to the local flow patterns, to be used in explosion assessments. The porous approximation in CFX is found to underpredict the turbulence intensity in the obstacle array compared to the explosion model EXSIM. Improving the turbulence prediction in the porous model would be valuable, so a relatively simple method of increasing the turbulence in porous regions is proposed. The CFD model will provide the non-uniform natural ventilation flowfields of complex regions for future explosion assessments at a hierarchy of levels.     

A study on the obstacle-induced variation of the gas explosion characteristics

A study on the variation of the gas explosion characteristics caused by the built-in obstacles was conducted in enclosed/vented gas explosion vessels. It has been well known that the obstacles in pipes and long ducts would accelerate the flame propagation, and cause the transition from deflagration to detonation. In this study, the explosion characteristics and the flame behavior of vented explosions and constant-volume explosions were investigated. Experiments were carried out in a 270-liter and 36-liter hexahedron vessels filled with LPG–air mixture. The explosion characteristics of the gas mixture were determined by using a strain-responding pressure transducer. The flame behavior was recorded by using a high-speed video camera. The shape and the size of the obstacle, and the gas concentration, were adjusted in the experiments.

It can be seen from the experimental results that, instead of being accelerated, the flame propagation inside the explosion vessel is decelerated by the plate obstacles fixed at the bottom of the vessel. Also, the characteristics of the enclosed explosion are not so affected by the built-in obstacles as those of the vented explosion are. It is believed that the eddy-induced turbulence behind the obstacle decelerates the flame propagation.     

Explosions in closed pipes containing baffles and 90 degree bends

There is a general lack of information on the effects of full-bore obstacles on combustion in the literature, these obstacles are prevalent in many applications and knowledge of their effects on phenomena including burning rate, flame acceleration and DDT is important for the correct placing of explosion safety devices such as flame arresters and venting devices. In this work methane, propane, ethylene and hydrogen–air explosions were investigated in an 18 m long DN150 closed pipe with a 90 degree bend and various baffle obstacles placed at a short distance from the ignition source. After carrying out multiple experiments with the same configuration it was found that a relatively large variance existed in the measured flame speeds and overpressures, this was attributed to a stochastic element in how flames evolved and also how they caused and interacted with turbulence to produce flame acceleration. This led to several experiments being carried out for one configuration in order to obtain a meaningful average. It was shown that a 90 degree bend in a long tube had the ability to enhance flame speeds and overpressures, and shorten the run-up distance to DDT to a varying degree for a number of gases. In terms of the qualitative effects on these parameters they were comparable to baffle type obstacles with a blockage ratios of between 10 and 20%.     

水平管道内障碍物数量对瓦斯爆炸过程的影响研究

为了研究水平管道内障碍物数量对瓦斯爆炸的影响,利用自制的水平管道式气体爆炸试验装置,选用阻塞率为60%的圆环型障碍物,在常温常压下对管道内障碍物数量分别为1片、3片、5片和7片时瓦斯(试验气体为甲烷与空气的混合物,下同)爆炸过程进行试验研究。结果表明:瓦斯的爆炸压力及其上升速率均随障碍物数量的增加呈先增后减的变化规律,而火焰传播速度则随着障碍物数量的增加单调递增,但递增幅度逐渐减小。在密闭置障管道内瓦斯的爆炸压力及其上升速率随测试位置长径比的增大先减小后增大,而火焰传播速度则随测试位置长径比的增大单调递减。     

Experimental study on unconfined methane explosion: Explosion characteristics and overpressure prediction method

Explosion accidents have become the main threat for the high-efficiency use of cleaner gas energy sources, such as natural gas. During an explosion, obstacle causing flame acceleration is the main reason for the increase of the explosion overpressure, which still remains to be fully understood. In this research, field experiments were conducted in a 1 m³ cubic frame apparatus to investigate the effect of built-in obstacles on unconfined methane explosion. Cage-like obstacles were constructed using square steel rods with different cross section size. The results demonstrated that the flame could get accelerated due to the hydrodynamic instability and obstacle-induced turbulence, which enhanced the explosion overpressure. In the near field, the overpressure wave travelled slower and the maximum overpressure could almost keep constant. Reducing the cross section size, or increasing the obstacle height or the obstacle number per layer could determine the rise of the maximum overpressure, the maximum pressure rising rate and the overpressure impulse. For uniformly constructed obstacles, self-similar theory was chosen to measure the influence of the hydrodynamic instability, and a parameter β was adopted to measure the flame acceleration caused by obstacle-induced turbulence, the value of which was 2 in this research. Based on the acoustic theory, an overpressure prediction model was proposed and the predicted results agreed with the measured values better than previous models, such as TNT equivalency model and TNO multi-energy model.     

Experimental study on DDT for hydrogen–methane–air mixtures in tube with obstacles

An experimental study of flame propagation, acceleration and transition to detonation in stoichiometric hydrogen–methane–air mixtures in 6 m long tube filled with obstacles located at different configurations was performed. The initial conditions of the hydrogen–methane–air mixtures were 1 atm and 293 K. Four different cases of obstacle blockage ratio (BR) 0.7, 0.6, 0.5 and 0.4 and three cases of obstacle spacing were used. The wave propagation was monitored by piezoelectric pressure transducers PCB. Pressure transducers were located at different positions along the channel to collect data concerning DDT and detonation development. Tested mixtures were ignited by a weak electric spark at one end of the tube. Detonation cell sizes were measured using smoked foil technique and analyzed with Matlab image processing toolbox. As a result of the experiments the deflagration and detonation regimes and velocities of flame propagation in the obstructed tube were determined.     

有障碍物开敞空间可燃气云爆炸超压场的数值模拟

利用计算流体动力学软件AutoReaGas定量研究障碍物、障碍物阻塞比对开敞空间可燃气云爆炸超压场的影响以及爆燃超压随测点距离变化的分布规律。研究结果表明:当有障碍物存在时,爆炸峰值超压会显著增加,且峰值超压随着障碍物阻塞比的增加而增加。对于有障碍物条件下开敞空间的丙烷气云爆炸,无论是气云内部还是气云外部,随着距爆心距离的增加,峰值超压都有减小的趋势。     

Effect of bifurcation on premixed methane-air explosion overpressure in pipes

It is well known that bifurcation structures have a significant influence on gas explosions in pipelines or roadways. In this work, three different types of bifurcation, namely, bifurcation with two right angles (BTRAs), bifurcation with two obtuse angles (BTOAs), and bifurcation with an obtuse angle and an acute angle (BOAA), were used to study the effect of bifurcation on premixed methane–air explosion overpressure in pipes. The effect of the position of bifurcation on gas explosions was also discussed. Our results suggest that the peak overpressure evolution in pipes exhibits a downtrend before the bifurcation, a sharp increase after the bifurcation until reaching the maximum, and a downward trend when propagating into the pipe end. It was also found that gas-explosion propagation was affected by the joint action of turbulence induced by obstacles and the abrupt increase of the cross-sectional area. In addition, the bifurcation’s position had only a small effect on the maximum peak overpressure in pipes.     

大尺度障碍物与泄爆面对天然气内爆炸的协同作用规律研究

为阐释民用建筑内部大尺度物品与门窗等泄爆面对天然气爆炸灾害的协同作用机制,基于典型厨房空间布局及内部物品特征,借助计算流体动力学技术研究了不同泄爆面开启压力和不同大尺度障碍物体积阻塞率条件下天然气内爆炸火焰速度、爆炸超压的分布规律。研究结果表明:大尺度障碍物与泄爆面对室内天然气爆炸过程具有显著的协同作用,共同促进火焰速度与爆炸超压的显著增长,并缩短峰值超压到达时间;大尺度障碍物的存在虽然显著降低了室内天然气的体积,但从增加房间内湍流源和相对长径比的角度进一步促进了泄爆效应;大尺度障碍物与泄爆面协同作用下,室内火焰速度呈现明显的阶段性特征,并在泄爆面附近发生波动。研究结论可为民用建筑物内气体爆炸事故调查分析和灾害评估提供科学依据。     

Comparison of explosion parameters for Methane–Air mixture in different cylindrical flameproof enclosures

Flameproof enclosures having internal electrical components are generally used in classified hazardous areas such as underground coalmines, refineries and places where explosive gas atmosphere may be formed. Flameproof enclosure can withstand the pressure developed during an internal explosion of an explosive mixture due to electrical arc, spark or hot surface of internal electrical components. The internal electrical component of a flameproof enclosure can form ignition source and also work as an obstacle in the explosion wave propagation. The ignition source position and obstacle in a flameproof enclosure have significant effect on explosion pressure development and rate of explosion pressure rise. To study this effect three cylindrical flameproof enclosures with different diameters and heights are chosen to perform the experiment. The explosive mixture used for the experiment is stoichiometric composition of methane in air at normal atmospheric pressure and temperature.It is observed that the development of maximum explosion pressure (P_max) and maximum rate of explosion pressure rise (dp/dt)_ex in a cylindrical flameproof enclosure are influenced by the position of ignition source, presence of internal metal or non-metal obstacles (component). The severity index, K_G is also calculated for the cylindrical enclosures and found that it is influenced by position of ignition source as well as blockage ratios (BR) of the obstacles in the enclosures.     

障碍物对隧道火灾中竖井自然排烟效果的影响*

为研究障碍物对隧道火灾中竖井自然排烟效果的影响,利用数值模拟方法分析不同的纵向风速和隧道内障碍物所处的不同位置对隧道及竖井内温度场、流场结构的影响,并根据模拟结果计算竖井排出热量。结果表明:随着火源与障碍物纵向距离的改变,在近火源区域,竖井后方会发生吸穿现象;在中间区域,障碍物后方发生边界层分离,烟气层变厚;在近竖井区域,竖井和负压区的耦合作用使烟气层变薄;排出热量随着纵向风速的增大先增加后减少,临界风速为1.5 m/s。     

Influence of built-in obstacles on unconfined vapor cloud explosion

The obstacle structure in the vapor cloud has a significant influence on the gas explosion. Obstacles could not only lead to the acceleration of flame, but also they may occupy some space, thus affecting the amount of combustible gas. In this paper, a new two-step method was proposed to respectively study the effects of the obstacles amount and volume blockage ratio (VBR) on the gas explosion by using Computation Fluid Dynamic software AutoReaGas, and the obstacles in the vapor cloud were set to “Solid” instead of “Subgrid”. Based on the results and analysis, it is found that the peak overpressure and the maximum combustion rate rise with the increase of the number of obstacles for a single VBR, which indicated that the vapor cloud explosion of more obstacles was more dangerous for a single VBR. However, under a single number of obstacles, the peak overpressure and the maximum combustion rate increase firstly and then decrease as VBR increases and reach the highest at the VBR of 0.74, which indicated that the intensity of vapor cloud explosion reach a peak at a certain VBR in the middle instead of the largest. In addition, the existence and structure of obstacles have little effect on the size of explosion fireball when the size and concentration of combustible gas cloud are the same.     

障碍物对天然气喷射火影响的数值模拟研究

为研究障碍物控制天然气喷射火对周围设施危害的有效性,基于流体力学基本原理与湍流模型,采用FDS模拟软件,分别研究高度为10 m的障碍物宽度和障碍物与泄漏孔间距对喷射火的影响。研究得出:障碍物对喷射火阻挡效果明显,减缓了火焰在速度方向的传播;障碍物越宽,控制火焰向前传播的效果越好,障碍物后方受火焰高温和热辐射危害越小,但随着宽度的增加,后方温度和热辐射下降率减小,障碍物宽3 m时,对火焰控制效果最好;随着障碍物与泄漏孔间距增加,障碍物后方热辐射先增加后减小,间距为5 m时,障碍物对火焰的控制效果最好,此时喷射火下游受保护的区域最宽。研究结果可为储气罐发生泄漏火灾事故处置及应急设施设计提供参考。