Numerical Simulation of Detonation Propagation in Flame Arrestor Applications

Abstract

Abstract A detail numerical study of detonation propagation and interaction with a flame arrestor product was conducted. The simulation domain was based on the detonation flame arrestor validation test setup. The flame arrestor element was modeled as a porous zone using the Forchheimer equation. The coefficients of the Forchheimer equation were determined using experimental data. The Forchheimer equation was incorporated into the governing equations for axisymmetric reactive turbulent flow as a momentum sink. A 21-step elementary reaction mechanism with 10 species was used to model the stoichiometric oxyhydrogen detonation. Different cases of detonation propagation including inviscid, viscous adiabatic, and viscous with heat transfer and a porous zone were studied. A detail discussion of the detonation propagation and effect of the arrestor geometry, the heat transfer and the porous zone are presented. The inviscid numerical model solutions of the detonation propagation parameters are compared to one-dimensional analytical solution for verification. The viscous solutions are qualitatively compared to historical experimental data which shows very similar trend. The effect of the porous media parameters on shock transmission and re-initiation of detonation is presented.