CGA G-13 large-scale silane release tests – Part I. Silane jet flame impingement tests and thermal radiation measurement

In early 2011, the G-13 Silane Modeling Task Force of the Compressed Gas Association (CGA) proposed a series of tests to better define pyrophoric behavior during unintentional, large-scale releases of silane. The tests were conducted in two phases under the direction of CGA and its guidelines. Phase I took place from June 27 to June 30, 2011, focusing primarily on thermal radiation and the heat transfer from flame impingement due to silane release from a fully open pressure relief device (PRD) on a tonner. Phase II took place on June 19 and 20, 2012, focusing on thermal radiation and explosion overpressure. The results were subsequently utilized to revise CGA G-13 guidelines on the safe handling of silane. In the present two-part papers, the results from the tests are summarized in order to highlight the key findings. The first part of summary described the results of the flame impingement and thermal radiation tests. Three different test series were conducted, including shakedown tests using nitrogen instead of silane, silane flame-impingement tests onto an adjacent target tonner, and heat-flux tests. For comparison with known values in the published literature, thermal radiation of ethylene flame jets was also measured. In addition, metallurgical analyses of the target tonner indicated that the metallurgical properties of the cylinder material were not altered by the flame impingement. The steel surface temperature at the point of impingement was estimated to be below 853.15 K and definitely did not exceed 950.15 K. Thus, the combination of internal pressure and vessel metal temperature was unlikely to exceed the rupture pressure of the ton cylinder.     

配电箱在火灾环境下的热响应特性研究

对建筑中广泛使用的低压配电箱在实际火灾条件下的导热过程进行了分析,借鉴现有规范中对排烟风机的耐温要求,估算了配电箱在280℃时需要的隔热板厚度。在一腔室内利用火源功率为700kW的油池火模拟实际火灾环境,对普通配电箱和加隔热板配电箱箱体温升特性进行了研究,分析了火灾环境温度变化对配电箱箱体、内部温度变化的影响规律,验证了配电箱保持连续工作30min的耐火设计要求。     

Thermal hazard assessment for synthesis of 3-methylpyridine-N-oxide

The exothermic oxidation of 3-methylpyridine with hydrogen peroxide was analyzed by Reaction Calorimeter (RC1e) in semi-batch operation. Heat releasing rate and heat conversion were studied at different operating conditions, such as reaction temperature, feeding rate, the amount of catalyst and so on. The thermal hazard assessment of the oxidation was derived from the calorimetric data, such as adiabatic temperature rise (ΔT_ad) and the maximum temperature of synthesis reaction (MTSR) in out of control conditions. Along with thermal decomposition of the product, the possibility of secondary decomposition under runaway conditions was analyzed by time to maximum rate (TMR_ad). Also, risk matrix was used to assess the risk of the reaction. Results indicated that with the increase of the reaction temperature, the reaction heat release rate increased, while reaction time and exotherm decreased. With the increase of feeding time, heat releasing rate decreased, but reaction time and exotherm increased. With the amount of the catalyst increased, heat releasing rate increased, reaction time decreased and exothermic heat increased. The risk matrix showed that when the reaction temperature was 70 °C, feeding time was 1 h, and the amount of catalyst was 10 g and 15 g, respectively, the reaction risk was high and must be reduced.     

Finned Single-pass Solar Air Heaters with Wire Mesh as an Absorber Plate

Single-pass solar air heaters (SAHs) with two and six fins attached and packed with wire mesh layers were experimentally investigated. Wire mesh layers were used between the fins in the place of an absorber plate. The effects of air mass flow rate on the outlet temperature and thermal efficiency were studied. The results showed an increase in the thermal efficiency as the air mass flow rate was increased. The range of the mass flow rate used in this work was between 0.0121and 0.042 kg/s. It was found that for the same mass flow rate the SAH having six fins has higher efficiency compared to the system that has two fins. The maximum efficiencies for the SAHs were obtained at the mass flow rate of 0.042 kg/s. The maximum efficiencies for the six-finned and two-finned SAHs were 79.81% and 71.8%, respectively. In addition, the maximum temperature difference between the inlet and the outlet, ΔT, for the SAH with six fins exceeded the two-finned SAH for the same mass flow rates. The maximum ΔT was 51.1°C for the six-finned SAH and 44.2°C for the two-finned SAH. As expected, the maximum ΔT for each SAH was obtained at the lowest air mass flow rate (i.e., 0.0121 kg/s). A substantial enhancement in the thermal efficiency was achieved in comparison to the results of a single-flow packed bed collector with those of conventional collectors.     

Experimental Study on the Influence of Rotational Speed on the Performance of a Single-screw Expander with a 175 mm Screw Diameter

A single-screw expander has been designed and manufactured independently. Based on this prototype, testing system has been built and performance experiment has been made. In this article, compressed air was used as working fluid and performance test for the prototype was finished at conditions including different rotational speed and different inlet pressure.

From the experimental data, it is shown that when inlet pressure less than 0.8MPa the output power increases with the increase of rotational speed because of not enough expansion; when inlet pressure more than 0.8MPa, the every biggest output power is appeared in the condition of rotational speed 2600 rpm. The test results also show that the total efficiency is influenced by rotational speed obviously, and the highest total efficiency of this machine is 69.64% in the condition of 3000 rpm and 15 bar.     

热颗粒和热辐射共同作用阴燃点燃松针燃料床：数值研究

建立了热颗粒和热辐射共同作用下阴燃点燃松针燃料床的二维数值模型,计算得到了热颗粒和热辐射单独点燃以及共同作用点燃的临界条件,分析了燃料床的点燃过程。与前人实验数据对比表明数值模型能够较好预测临界点燃条件。金属热颗粒单独作用时点火所需的临界温度与颗粒直径呈双曲线关系。金属热颗粒与热辐射共同作用时,临界辐射热通量呈现出随颗粒温度和直径的增加而显著减小的趋势。热辐射持续供热能有效维持表层炭氧化反应,两者共同作用下点燃危险性增加。研究同时发现,燃料含水率对共同作用下的临界辐射热通量有较大影响。     

Thermal evaluation of junction and connection boxes in explosion protection

To reliably avoid potential ignition sources and thus ignition of the potentially explosive atmosphere in junction and connection boxes of type of protection Increased Safety ‘e', the self-heating shall not exceed a specified level depending on the temperature class. For the conformity assessment of such products, complex thermal tests are necessary due to the great variety of mounting types and arrangements of terminal blocks in the enclosure, depending on the enclosure size. These tests are very time-consuming for the manufacturer of junction and connection boxes or for the testing laboratory and are therefore associated with considerable costs. To reduce this effort and to ensure a uniform assessment in the conformity evaluation by a certification body, it is therefore essential to create fitting charts depending on the enclosure size.This work introduces a calculation tool by means of systematic investigations on different enclosure sizes and with different assemblies, which enables the calculation of fitting charts with justifiable effort. For this purpose, the maximum temperature in the enclosure was determined as a function of the current and the assembly at 20 ± 5 °C ambient temperature. From this, electrical and enclosure-specific constants such as the maximum permissible current per conductor and a conductor specific factor were determined and combined with an exponential dependence of the power dissipation. It is shown that this relationship is valid for an overtemperature of 40 K for compliance with temperature class T6 up to an ambient temperature of +40 °C. Finally, to verify the reliability of the calculation tool, the results are compared with the enclosure-specific rated value of the maximum power dissipation according to IEC 60079-7, 5.7.     

Thermal hazard evaluation for γ-valerolactone production by using formic acid as hydrogen donor

Aiming at the green and sustainable energy substitution and supply, biomass valorization has become a potential strategy to face the energy crisis and increasing demand all over the world from long-term perspectives. Among the bio-based chemicals, γ-valerolactone (GVL) production from hydrogenation of levulinic acid (LA) and its esters has attracted great interests due to its wide applications, such as fuel, solvent, and additives. However, the safety evaluation for this hydrogenation reaction has received few attentions. To fill this gap, thermal hazard evaluation for GVL production from LA hydrogenation by using formic acid (FA) as hydrogen donor was first performed. The process conditions were optimized by using orthogonal experimental method for further calorimetry study. Thermal stability of chemicals and thermal risk of reaction process under adiabatic conditions were investigated by applying differential scanning calorimetry and accelerating rate calorimeter Phi-Tec II, respectively. The results revealed that the chemicals were stable in temperature range from 30 to 250 °C except FA due to its evaporation and decomposition with endothermic behaviors. The reaction process under isothermal and adiabatic conditions demonstrates that the decomposition of FA was rapid and followed by the hydrogenation of LA to GVL. Based on kinetic model under adiabatic conditions and risk matrix, the thermal runaway risk was found to be medium, indicating that certain safety measures should be properly designed and taken for loss prevention. This work could benefit the safety design and thermal risk prevention for GVL production by using FA as hydrogen donor.     

Numerical simulation of the thermal inertia of an adiabatic reaction calorimeter in reaction thermal safety process

Obtaining accurate thermal risk assessment parameters of chemical processes and substance properties is essential for improving the safety of chemical production and substance use and storage, and the adiabatic reaction calorimeter (ARC) has been employed by many researchers for this purpose. However, with the improvement and upgrading of the instrument, an examination of the factors that affect its detection accuracy is warranted. A simplified reaction model of the adiabatic thermal decomposition of tert-butyl peroxyacetate was constructed using computational fluid dynamics in which the adiabatic thermal decomposition kinetic model and fluid-solid coupling model were combined to simulate heat transfer. To verify the reliability of the parameters of the numerical calculation model, the effects of the sample cell's material, wall thickness, and mass were investigated in relation to the thermal inertia of the ARC. The results indicated that the thermal inertia of the system was lowest when the sample cell was composed of titanium. When the sample pool's composition is determined, the thermal inertia of the system can be reduced to a certain extent through an approximate increase in the sample mass. Finally, an analysis of the heat flow cloud diagram of the wall of sample pools made from different materials revealed that the thermal conductivity of titanium was high; this information can assist in controlling the adiabatic process.