Effect of small vent area on a small-scale methane-air explosion

Kai Zhang, Zhirong Wang, Supan Wang, Juncheng Jiang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

A series of small-scale experiments on vented methane-air explosions are carried out in a 22 L spherical vented vessel with small vent areas. The experiment is conducted under both constrained and unconstrained circumstances where the dimensionless vent ratios are different. A discussion of the various characteristics of the explosion is presented. Under the constrained circumstances, reduced dimensionless vent ratios can lead to an increase in the maximum explosion venting pressure and in the maximum explosion rising rate, called nonbalanced vented explosions. However, when the dimensionless vent ratios are higher than a certain value, the maximum explosion venting pressure and maximum explosion rising rate do not change, which is called as balanced vented explosions. When the dimensionless vent ratios are between 0.009 and 0.025, it has a remarkable effect. When the dimensionless vent ratio is between 0.00169 and 0.009, it doesn't affect the explosion pressure. However, a very high explosion venting pressure appears. Moreover, the pressure is close to the maximum explosion pressure in a closed vessel. When the dimensionless vent ratios are lower than 0.00169, the maximum explosion venting pressure is higher than the maximum explosion pressure in a confined space. Nevertheless, under the unconstrained circumstances, the maximum explosion venting pressure is always lower than the maximum enclosed explosion pressure despite of different dimensionless vent ratios.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)294-299
Number of pages6
JournalProcess Safety Progress
Volume37
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2018

Keywords

  • constrained vented explosions
  • dimensionless vent ratios
  • pressure variation
  • small vent areas
  • unconstrained vented explosions

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