The influence of flexible/rigid obstacle on flame propagation and blast injuries risk in gas explosion

Abstract

ABSTRACT The interaction between flame, shock wave and obstacle is an important content in the study of fuel combustion and safety. In this paper, the performance difference between flexible and rigid obstacles in the process of explosion flame propagation was studied. Five barriers with different blocking rates（BR） were tested in the pipeline for methane premixed explosion. The high-speed photography system collects the flame image, the flame front velocity is calculated, and the dynamic pressure changes in the upstream and downstream pipelines during flame propagation are recorded by the high-frequency pressure acquisition system. The results show that the obstacle affects the unburned flow field and generates compression waves and shear layers. The explosion promotion degree of the two obstacles presents different trends, and the peak pressure decreases. At the same time, obstacles reflect pressure waves, causing instability in the front of the flame. With the increase of plugging rate, the difference of peak pressure rises to 30% at BR = 0.4. The flame velocity of flexible obstacles is also more flat, and the peak velocity at BR = 0.2 and BR = 0.4 is close to 43 m/s. During the study, it was found that the flexible material can effectively absorb the reflected wave, and the pressure oscillation is absorbed. The average amplitude of the rigid oscillation rises from 4 kPa to 10 kPa, and the flexible oscillation decreases to nearly zero. The difference of barrier materials makes the impact of shock wave on flame and primary explosive injury (PBI) lighter, which is more conducive to assessing the explosion risk of combustible gas.