Effects of top vent locations and gasoline volumes on vented gasoline vapor explosion in closed small-scale vessel

Abstract

In this study, experiments are conducted with a small-scale vessel (cross section of 100 mm × 100 mm and length of 1000 mm) to investigate the effects of a 60 mm × 60 mm vent set on the vessel roof in vented gasoline vapor explosion. Different vent locations and gasoline volumes are considered and compared. The results indicate that the initial gasoline volumes significantly affect the color and propagation characteristics of the flame generated by the explosion. Violent turbulence occurs around the side vent when the flame is ejected through it, and the turbulence near the side vent becomes more intense as the distance between the side vent and the ignitor increases. Subsequently, flame-oscillating propagation behavior is observed. The amplitude of the flame oscillating propagation decreases as the distance between the side vent and the ignitor increases. The maximum explosion overpressure and deflagration index in the pipeline increase linearly as the distance between the side vent and the ignitor increases. The release of power of the gasoline vapor explosion damage can be significantly enhanced by reducing the distance between the side vent and the ignitor. However, a shorter distance between the side vent and the ignitor prolongs the explosion noise, which is harmful to the human ear. The side vent locations and gasoline volumes have negligible effect on the maximum sound pressure level of the explosion noise, which is approximately 120 dB in all cases. Additionally, the flame propagation dynamic process can be reflected to some extent by the change curve of the sound pressure level.