A study of spherical detonation in mixtures of methane and oxygen diluted by nitrogen

Abstract

A study has been made of spherical detonation waves in methane/oxygen/nitrogen mixtures. Using various masses M of solid explosive (Tetryl) as initiator, the detonatability limit in the (x,M) plane at atmospheric pressure has been established for mixtures of composition CH4+202+xN2with 1.4 <or=x<or=5.53. The results cast doubt on a claim to have demonstrated spherical detonation in stoichiometric methane/air mixtures. Measured detonation velocities were all close to calculated Chapman Jouguet velocities.

Detonation properties of saturated hydrocarbons

“…The reliability of the calculated parameters can be evaluated from Figs. 4-7 and 8a, where the calculated results are compared with experimental data [5,[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. Figures 4 and 5 show the cell size as a function of the initial pressure for a pure methane-oxygen mixture (Fig.…”

A review of large-scale LNG spills: Experiments and modeling

“…These experiments studied spherical detonation of methaneoxygen mixtures diluted with nitrogen [92,93]. Detonation of the mixture, contained in polythene bags of uninflated sizes of 1.8 × 1.8 m (5.9 × 5.9 ft) and 3.05 × 1.52 m (10 × 5 ft), was initiated by electrically firing Tetryl explosive.…”

Risks of LNG and LPG

“…propagate a supersonic combustion wave. Indirect evidence indicates that a large enough sample will detonate if initiated by a sufficiently intense explosive charge (25,26). So far, no detonation has been observed when only a flame or spark is used to ignite an unconfi ned LNG vapor cloud.…”