Influence of ignition position and obstacles on explosion development in methane-air mixture in closed vessels

The paper outlines an experimental study of influence of the ignition position and obstacles on explosion development in premixed methane-air mixtures in an elongated explosion vessel. As the explosion vessel, 1325 mm length tube with 128.5 mm diameter was used. Location of the ignition was changeable, i.e., fitted in the centre or at one of ends of the tube, when the tube was in a horizontal position. When it was in a vertical position, three locations of the ignition (bottom, centre and top) were used. In the performed study, the influence of obstacles on the course of pressure was investigated. Two identical steel grids were used as the obstacles. They were placed 405mm from either end of the tube. Their blockage ratio (grid area to tube cross-section area) was determined as 0.33 for most of experiments. A few additional experiments (with smaller blockage ratio-0.16) were also conducted in order to compare the influence of the blockage ratio on the explosion development. Also some experiments were conducted in a semi-cylindrical vessel with volume close to 401. All the experiments were performed under stabilized conditions, with the temperature and pressure inside the vessel settled to room values and controlled by means of electronic devices. The pressure-time profiles from two transducers placed in the centreline of the inner wall of the explosion vessel were obtained for stoichiometric (9.5%), lean (7%) and rich (12%) methane-air mixture. The results obtained in the study, including maximum pressures and pressure-time profiles, illustrate a quite distinct influence of the above listed factors upon the explosion characteristics. The effect of ignition position, obstacles location and their BR parameters is discussed. The additional aim of the performed experiments was to find the data necessary to validate a new computer code, developed to calculate an explosion hazard in industrial installations. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.