Effects of Water Mist Concentration and Droplet Size on Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Detonation

Abstract

ABSTRACT The effects of water mist concentration and droplet size on the inhibition of gas-liquid two-phase detonation are studied. The characteristics of the structure of the detonation wave, the interaction between the detonation wave and water mist, and the mechanism of water mist inhibition are analyzed. The interaction between iso-octane gas-liquid detonation wave and water mist results in the inhibition of the chemical reaction, and the decrease of combustion rate is the basic reason for the inhibition of water mist. Under the action of detonation waves, water mist flows and evaporates at high velocity, and the heat absorbed by evaporation reduces the chemical reaction rate of fuel to achieve effective inhibition of the detonation. The flame front and pressure wave front of the detonation wave are basically synchronous; after the detonation wave is effectively inhibited by water mist, the length between the pressure wave front and flame front increases gradually. The detonation inhibition effect improves with increasing water mist concentration in the range of 120–350 g/m3 in the model. The inhibition of detonation increases slightly as the size of water mist decreases in the range of 50 μm-200 μm. The optimal concentration range and droplet size range of water mist to inhibit explosion are obtained. The achievements provide an important reference for the design of explosion inhibition by water mist in hazardous explosion areas and have potential applications.