Experimental and numerical study on the combustion characteristic of H2 and CH4 in oxygen-enriched environment

Abstract

Oxygen-enriched combustion could rise the hazard of unexpected fire and explosion in industry. This study experimentally and numerically analyzed the combustion characteristic of H2 and CH4 in oxygen-enriched environment (Ω = 21%–100 %). For H2 at Φ = 1 and Ω = 100 %, the maximum explosion pressure and maximum pressure rise rate were about 3.89 MPa and 1259.2 MPa/s. For CH4, these values were about 4.77 MPa and 6279.4 MPa/s. The upper flammability limit of gases increased sharply with the increase of Ω, however, the lower flammability limit was almost unchanged. Besides, the increasing of Ω also could result in the rising of aforementioned combustion parameters. The sensitivity of burning velocity was also analyzed. For H2 flame at Φ = 0.8, R35 could slow down burning velocity when Ω = 21 %, but promote it when Ω = 30 % and 70 %. For CH4 flame at Φ = 1.4, the sensitivity coefficients of R11, R35, R43 and R84 changed from negative to positive when Ω increased from 21 % - 30 %–70 % - 100 %. It was concluded that the oxygen concentration not only affect the inert gas but also affect the reaction kinetic of flame.