Study on flexible/rigid protection mechanism of hydrogen/methane premixed gas explosion in urban underground space

Abstract

Explosion accidents are one of the factors that impede urban underground space development and utilization, and it is imperative to study safety precautions in case of an explosion in an urban underground space. Given this problem, a polyurethane sponge and carbon fiber board with Blocking Rates (BR) of 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 were used to explore the combustion and explosion characteristics of hydrogen/methane premixed gas in a confined space in the presence of a flexible and rigid obstacle. The results indicated that both the flame and pressure exhibit Helmholtz oscillation characteristics in case of a rigid obstacle. When the BR of both flexible and rigid obstacle were 0.4, the explosion intensity index was the highest. It first increased and then declined with the increase of flexible obstacle BR. In the presence of a flexible obstacle, the Helmholtz oscillation phenomenon was completely suppressed, and explosion intensity indices were minimized, as the flexible obstacle BR increased, it first increased and then declined. Under the rigid obstacle preset conditions, the explosion hazard significantly increased compared to the flexible constructions. The research results provide a theoretical basis for protective facilities to suppress combustion and explosion phenomena in underground spaces.