Laboratory flammability studies of mixtures of hydrogen, nitrous oxide, and air

Abstract

At the request of the Department of Energy and the Westinghouse Hanford Company, the Bureau of Mines has investigated the flammability of mixtures of hydrogen, nitrous oxide, and air. This work is relevant to the possible hazards of flammable gas generation from nuclear waste tanks at Hanford, WA. The tests were performed in a 120-L spherical chamber under both quiescent and turbulent conditions using both electric spark and pyrotechnic ignition sources. The data reported here for binary mixtures of hydrogen in air generally confirm the data of previous investigators, but they are more comprehensive than those reported previously. The results clarify to a greater extent the complications associated with buoyancy, turbulence, and selective diffusion. The data reported here for ternary mixtures of hydrogen and nitrous oxide in air indicate that small additions of nitrous oxide (relative to the amount of air) have little effect, but that higher concentrations of nitrous oxide (relative to air) significantly increase the explosion hazard.