Insight into energy release characteristics of TiH2 dust explosion through ignition experiments and molecular dynamic simulations

Abstract

TiH2 is an efficient hydrogen storage material with high energy density and relatively stable chemical quality, which is commonly used in metal sponge production, hydrogen storage, battery technology, rocket propellants, etc. In this study, TiH2 dust explosion is systematically investigated by integrating ignition experiments with reactive force field molecular dynamics simulation. Findings show that when the TiH2 dust concentration is 750 g·m−3, both the explosion pressure and explosion pressure rise rate reach their maximum values under airtight and venting conditions. There are three stages in the whole combustion process: the combustion development stage, the stable combustion stage, and the decay stage. The flame length (L) and flame propagation velocity (v) grow with the increase of dust concentration. TiH2 dust explosion with different concentrations in macroscopic tests is approximated by simulating the combustion behaviors of the TiH2 system with different densities. The combustion reaction rate of TiH2 grows with an increase in system density, and the simulation results are consistent with experimental findings.