Experimental study on explosion behavior of propane-dimethyl ether blends

Abstract

The explosion characteristics of propane-dimethyl ether blends were investigated using a 20-L spherical explosion vessel. The effects of dimethyl ether (DME) addition and equivalence ratio were explored. The results indicated the maximum pressure and maximum pressure rising rate increased with the addition of dimethyl ether and reached maximum value under the equivalence ratio of 1.2. The time to reach maximum explosion pressure showed the opposite effect. The effect of initial temperature and pressure on explosion characteristics of propane with 30% dimethyl ether blending ratio was studied under the equivalence ratio of 1.0. The results indicated that elevated initial pressure increased the maximum explosion pressure and the maximum pressure rising rate, but had little effect on the time to reach maximum explosion pressure. Increasing the initial temperature reduced the maximum explosion pressure and the time to reach maximum explosion pressure. The maximum pressure rising rate was approximately 38 MPa s−1 when the initial temperature was raised from 30 to 120 °C. CHEMKIN software and the theoretical model calculated the maximum explosion pressure to compare with experimental results.