Effect of hydrogen on explosion characteristics of liquefied petroleum gas-air mixtures

Abstract

The effects of hydrogen addition on the explosion characteristics of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-air mixtures were experimentally investigated under initial conditions of 1 atm and 298 K. Furthermore, with reference to the detailed USC-Mech II mechanism, sensitivity and the rate of production (ROP) analyses were conducted. When the hydrogen proportion is constant, the maximum explosion pressure and the maximum rate of pressure rise first increase and then decrease, reaching peaks at an equivalence ratio of 1.3. The experimentally measured maximum explosion pressure is lower than the numerically calculated adiabatic pressure. The calculated adiabatic pressure decreases slightly with an increase in the hydrogen proportion. However, under the experimental conditions, owing to the high reactivity of hydrogen, the LPG-H2-air mixtures experience a small heat loss in the early stage of the explosion, and the maximum explosion pressure and maximum rate of pressure increase considerably, with the arrival time of the pressure peak is advanced. The addition of hydrogen promotes the sensitivity coefficient of reactants C3H8 and C4H10 and increases the maximum ROP of free radicals H, O, and OH. Meanwhile, the addition of hydrogen significantly influences the maximum ROP of the elementary reaction R2.