蒸汽抑制熄灭酒精池火有效性的模拟实验研究

蒸汽灭火系统在酒类作业场所有着广阔的应用前景.通过全淹没和局部保护实验对蒸汽抑制熄灭酒精池火的有效性进行了研究.实验结果表明,全淹方式难以有效控火,但是布局合理的局部保护方式能够有效熄灭酒精池火.蒸汽灭火过程中稀释O2浓度的灭火机理起到的作用较小,蒸汽的火焰拉伸效果是其主导灭火机理.     

Ignition temperatures and flame velocities of metallic nanomaterials

The production of materials with dimensions in the nanometre range has continued to increase in recent years. In order to ensure safety when handling these products, the hazard potential of such innovative materials must be known. While several studies have already investigated the effects of explosions (such as maximum explosion pressure and maximum pressure rise) of powders with primary particles in the nanometre range, little is known about the ignition temperatures and flame velocities. Therefore, the minimum ignition temperature (MIT) of metallic nano powders (aluminium, iron, copper and zinc) was determined experimentally in a so called Godbert-Greenwald (GG) oven. Furthermore, the flame velocities were determined in a vertical tube. In order to better classify the test results, the tested samples were characterised in detail and the lower explosion limits of the tested dust samples were determined. Values for the burning velocity of aluminium nano powders are higher compared to values of micrometre powders (from literature). While MIT of nanometre aluminium powders is within the range of micrometre samples, MIT of zinc and copper nano powders is lower than values reported in literature for respective micrometre samples.     

Impact of local flame quenching on the flame acceleration in H2-CO-air mixtures in obstructed channels

In accident scenarios originating from weak ignition, flame acceleration preconditions the fresh gas ahead of the flame front and provides the necessary conditions for deflagration-to-detonation transition to occur. Strong shear layers, which form at the rear edge of obstacles in the accelerated flow of fast flames, isolate fresh gas pockets. Vortices in the intense shear layer have the potential to locally quench the flame, limiting the integral heat release and delaying the onset of detonation.This study investigates the potential of local turbulent quenching in H${}_2$-CO-air mixtures. First, the presence of locally reduced heat release is visualized in highly resolved simulations for H${}_2$-air and H${}_2$-CO-air flames. Efficient simulation methods are of great importance for risk analysis studies. In connection with the results from highly resolved simulations this justifies a more detailed look at RANS-based combustion models for said flames. Thus, three different treatments of turbulent quenching are investigated, in which the geometrical configuration (blockage ratio and obstacle spacing) and the geometry size is varied.The results indicate that quenching does not need to be considered in RANS-based combustion models for H${}_2$-CO-air flames in explosion scenarios. But since quenching does eventually occur at very high turbulence intensities, the authors suggest limiting the flame turbulence interaction to flame stretch values obtained from 1D counter-flow flame simulations with detailed chemistry.     

Effect of separation distance on gas dispersion and vapor cloud explosion in a storage tank farm determined using computational fluid dynamics

Storage tank separation distance, which considerably affects forestalling and mitigating accident consequences, is principally determined by thermal radiation modeling and meeting industry safety requirements. However, little is known about the influence of separation distance on gas dispersion or gas explosion, which are the most destructive types of accidents in industrial settings. This study evaluated the effect of separation distance on gas dispersion and vapor cloud explosion in a storage tank farm. Experiments were conducted using Flame Acceleration Simulator, an advanced computational fluid dynamics software program. Codes governing the design of separation distances in China and the United States were compared. A series of geometrical models of storage tanks with various separation distances were established. Overall, increasing separation distance led to a substantial reduction in vapor cloud volume and size in most cases. Notably, a 1.0 storage diameter separation distance appeared to be optimal. In terms of vapor cloud explosion, a greater separation distance had a marked effect on mitigating overpressure in gas explosions. Therefore, separation distance merited consideration in the design of storage tanks to prevent gas dispersion and explosion.     

Numerical and experimental study on flame spread over conveyor belts in a large-scale tunnel

Conveyor belt fires in an underground mine pose a serious life threat to the miners. This paper presents numerical and experimental results characterizing a conveyor belt fire in a large-scale tunnel. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to simulate the flame spread over the conveyor belt in a mine entry. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) tests were conducted for the conveyor belt and results were used to estimate the kinetic properties for modeling the pyrolysis process of the conveyor belt burning. The CFD model was calibrated using results from the large-scale conveyor belt fire experiments. The comparison between simulation and test results shows that the CFD model is able to capture the major features of the flame spread over the conveyor belt. The predicted maximum heat release rate, and maximum smoke temperature are in good agreement with the large-scale tunnel fire test results. The calibrated CFD model can be used to predict the flame spread over a conveyor belt in a mine entry under different physical conditions and ventilation parameters to aid in the design of improved fire detection and suppression systems, mine rescue, and mine emergency planning.     

多种气压条件下甲醇池火燃烧特性的实验研究

通过自行研制的低氧低压模拟试验箱开展了小尺寸甲醇油池火燃烧实验,研究了在多种气压条件(40kpa、45kpa、55kpa、65kpa、75kpa、85kpa、100kpa)下的油池火燃烧特性参数的差异。实验发现,一定情况下,甲醇燃烧速率随着气压的升高而升高,呈现幂函数关系;火焰高度和火焰面积从低压开始先随着气压值的升高而升高,当达到一定的气压值后就会随着气压值的升高而降低;随着气压升高,羽流中心温度下降的幅度变缓。     

Explosive properties of selected aerosols determined in a spherical 5-L test chamber

Combustible liquids in the form of aerosols are important for many industrial processes. Therefore the problem of explosion hazards posed by the aerosols becomes increasingly more prominent. To correctly assess the explosion risk and fulfil the requirements of the ATEX directive, it is necessary to obtain information regarding the flammable and explosive properties of the aerosols. Unlike in the case of gases and dusts, no standard procedures aimed at obtaining quantitative information of this type exist. Factors that influence the explosion dynamics of aerosols include: concentration, droplet size, temperature etc. Some of these factors are strongly dependent on the aerosol generation methods. A prototype apparatus was designed and constructed to address that dependence. The apparatus was used in an attempt to determine the basic explosion parameters of liquid flammable aerosols. The device consisted of a 5-L spherical vessel equipped with a pump-injection system that generated aerosols as well as a spark ignition source. A wide variety of injection settings were tested to select the most suitable conditions over a broad range of concentrations and fluid properties. A measurement procedure was developed for operating the device. Prototype tests were carried out with fluids commonly used in industry: isopropanol and kerosene. The tests demonstrated the significant influence of the vessel wall temperature on the result accuracy. Correct temperature control made it possible to obtain relationships between the aerosol concentration and the following explosion parameters: maximum explosion pressure and maximum rate of pressure rise.     

Effects of combined porous media on quenching and re-ignition characteristics of methane/air premixed combustion in a duct

During the study of foam metal suppression of methane combustion in ducts, it was found that under certain conditions, after the flame is extinguished, a re-ignition phenomenon occurs in the area upstream of the foam metal. In this paper, the process and mechanism for the occurrence of this phenomenon were investigated. The porous media used in the experiments is a two-layer structure consisting of a combination of iron-nickel foam and copper foam and was mounted in a transversal position. Each layer of foam metal has a thickness of 5 mm and a pore size of 20 or 40 holes pores per inch (ppi). The results show that flame extinguishment and re-ignition are highly dependent on the material and pore density of the porous media used. After the flame was quenched by the combination of iron-nickel foam with the same pore density of 40ppi, the re-ignition intensity was higher (a dazzling white light could be observed) and the flame area was larger. However, when a combination of iron-nickel foam with different pore densities was used, the re-ignition intensity, flame oscillation frequency and amplitude were significantly lower. However, both re-ignition flames can last for a long time. In addition, the incorporation of copper foam with high thermal conductivity resulted in the decay of flame propagation speed and the overpressure before and after quenching increased significantly with the increase of pore density of the first layer of iron-nickel foam.     

Study on the preparation of novel FR-245/MCM-41 suppressant and its inhibition mechanism on oil shale deflagration flame

Oil shale development is of great significance because oil and gas resources are scarce. Research on the prevention of oil shale dust explosion is particularly important for guaranteeing the safe development and utilization of oil shale resources. In this work, the flame morphology and velocity of oil shale dust with and without MCM-41 or FR-245 were compared. Furthermore, the novel green FR-245/MCM-41 inhibitor was prepared by jet mill method and used in oil shale dust explosion for the first time. The best ratio of FR-245/MCM-41 for flame inhibition was obtained, which was 9: 1. The pyrolysis oxidation behavior of oil shale before and after adding FR-245/MCM-41 was analyzed and compared by FWO and KAS methods, respectively. The results showed that the activation energy calculated by FWO and KAS methods greatly increased after adding FR-245/MCM-41, which increased by 95.36% and 115.15% than that before adding inhibitor, respectively. Significantly, the activation energy is particularly high for two methods when α between 0.2 and 0.6, due to that MCM-41 and FR-245 coexisted to limit the oxidation of oil shale. For α between 0.7 and 0.9, the activation energy is still high because of the existence of MCM-41. Combining the oil dust flame propagation behavior with the characterization results before and after explosion, the physical-chemical synergy mechanism of oil dust flame propagation inhibition was revealed.     

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.