Investigation of the detonation regimes in gaseous mixtures with suspended starch particles

The existence of a secondary discontinuity at the rear of a detonation front shown in experiments by Peraldi and Veyssiere (1986) in stoichiometric hydrogen-oxygen mixtures with suspended 20-m starch particles has not been explained satisfactorily. Recently Veyssiere et al. (1997) analyzed these results using a one-dimensional (1-D) numerical model, and concluded that the heat release rate provided by the burning of starch particles in gaseous detonation products is too weak to support a double-front detonation (DFD), in contrast to the case of hybrid mixtures of hydrogen-air with suspended aluminium particles in which a double-front detonation structure was observed by Veyssiere (1986). A two-dimensional (2-D) numerical model was used in the present work to investigate abovementioned experimental results for hybrid mixtures with starch particles. The formation and propagation of the detonation has been examined in the geometry similar to the experimental tube of Peraldi and Veyssiere (1986), which has an area change after 2 m of propagation from the ignition point from a 69 mm dia. section to a 53 mm 53 mm square cross section corresponding to a 33% area contraction. It is shown that the detonation propagation regime in these experiments has a different nature from the double-front detonation observed in hybrid mixtures with aluminium particles. The detonation propagates as a pseudo-gas detonation (PGD) because starch particles release their heat downstream of the CJ plane giving rise to a non-stationary compression wave. The discontinuity wave at the rear of the detonation front is due to the interaction of the leading detonation front with the tube contraction, and is detected at the farthest pressure gauge location because the tube length is insufficient for the perturbation generated by the tube contraction to decay. Thus, numerical simulations explain experimental observations made by Peraldi and Veyssiere (1986). Received 5 July 1997 / Accepted 13 July 1998     

立式激波管内云雾爆轰胞格尺寸的测定与分析

采用烟迹技术在立式激波管中测定了环氧丙烷、90#汽油、硝酸异丙酯、庚烷、癸烷、戊二烯等几种燃料气液两相云雾爆轰的胞格尺寸。结果表明,云雾爆轰的胞格尺寸随当量比的变化呈U形曲线关系,且最小胞格尺寸并不是对应于等化学当量比而是偏向于富燃料一侧,这与气相爆轰的结论是一致的。胞格尺寸随起爆能的增加而减小。当起爆能达到一定值后,胞格尺寸变化不明显,若起爆能继续增加,在通常的胞格内出现精细结构。云雾爆轰波胞格长度与宽度的比值比气相爆轰小。另外,根据烟迹记录分析了云雾爆轰作用机制,认为液滴的碎解、汽化过程以及燃烧区前导是控制气液两相云雾爆轰的主要因素。     

Evolution of detonation propagation through an annular gap into a combustion chamber

Some results of theoretical studies of detonation processes in combustible gaseous mixtures are discussed for a model geometry of large combustion chambers of detonation engines in the case of mixtures of hydrogen and oxygen-enriched air. The effect of geometric characteristics on the operation of pulse detonation engines is analyzed. In particular, the propagation of detonation waves in tubes of small diameter to larger volumes and the evolution of detonation under the action of converging shock waves are considered.     

Existence of the detonation cellular structure in two-phase hybrid mixtures

The cellular detonation structure has been recorded for hybrid hydrogen/air/aluminium mixtures on 1.0 m 0.110 m soot plates. Addition of aluminium particles to the gaseous mixture changes its detonation velocity. For very fine particles and flakes, the detonation velocity is augmented and, in the same time, the cell width diminishes as compared with the characteristic cell size of the mixture without particles. On the contrary, for large particles, the detonation velocity decreases and the cell size becomes larger than . It appears that the correlation law between the cell size and the detonation velocity in the hybrid mixture is similar to the correlation between the cell size and the rate of detonation overdrive displayed for homogeneous gaseous mixtures. Moreover, this correlation law remains valid in hybrid mixtures for detonation velocities smaller than the value D of the mixture without particles. Received 10 May 2001 / Accepted 12 August 2002 Published online 19 December 2002 Correspondence to: B. Veyssiere (e-mail: veyssiere@lcd.ensma.fr)     

Investigation of detonation initiation in aluminium suspensions

Detonation initiation is investigated in aluminium/oxygen and aluminium/air mixtures. Critical conditions for initiation of spherical detonations are examined in analogy with the criteria defined for gaseous mixtures, which correlate critical parameters of detonation initiation to the characteristic size of the cellular structure. However, experimental data on the detonation cell size in these two-phase mixtures are very scarce, on account of the difficulty to perform large-scale experiments. Therefore, 2D numerical simulations of the detonation cellular structure have been undertaken, with the same combustion model for Al/air and Al/O₂ mixtures. The cell size is found to be λ = 37.5 cm for a rich (r = 1.61) aluminium–air mixture, and λ = 7.5 cm for a stoichiometric aluminium-oxygen mixture, which is in reasonable agreement with available experimental data. Calculations performed in large-scale configurations (up to 25 m in length and 1.5 m in lateral direction) suggest that the critical initiation energy and predetonation radius for direct initiation of the unconfined detonation in the aluminium–air mixture are, respectively, 10 kg of TNT and 8 m. Moreover, numerical simulations reveal that the structure of the detonation wave behind the leading front is even more complicated than in pure gaseous mixtures, due to two-phase flow effects. This paper is based on work that was presented at the 21st International Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems, Poitiers, France, July 23–27, 2007.     

Blast wave propagation in air from a gaseous charge

In the point explosion problem it is assumed that an instantaneous release of finite energy causing shock wave propagation in the ambient gas occurs at a space point. The results of the solution of the problem of such blasts are contained in [1–4]. This point model is applied for the determination of shock wave parameters when the initial pressure in a sphere of finite radius exceeds the ambient air pressure by 2–3 orders of magnitude. The possibility of such a flow simulation at a certain distance from the charge is shown in papers [4, 5] as applied to the blast of a charge of condensed explosive and in [6, 8] as applied to the expansion of a finite volume of strongly compressed hot gas. In certain practical problems the initial pressure in a volume of finite dimensions exceeds atmospheric pressure by a factor 10–15 only. Such cases arise, for example, in the detonation of gaseous fuel-air mixtures. The present paper considers the problem of shock wave propagation in air, caused by explosion of gaseous charge of spherical or cylindrical shape. A numerical solution is obtained in a range of values of the specific energy of the charge characteristic for fuel-air detonation mixtures by means of the method of characteristics without secondary shock wave separation. The influence of the initial conditions of the gas charge explosion (specific energy, nature of initiation, and others) is investigated and compared with the point case with respect to the pressure difference across the shock wave and the positive overpressure pulse.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 110–118, May–June, 1986.     

Detonability of fuel-oxygen and fuel-air mixtures

An analysis of theoretical models and experimental investigations of the detonability of unconfined detonation in uniform gaseous mixtures shows a disparity in results. The present study is limited to propane, acetylene and methane diluted with oxygen or air in variable proportions and initial pressures at ambient temperature conditions. Because of the disparity in results, a simple and general formulation of critical initiation energy for gaseous detonations has been investigated. The problem has been formulated using the conservation equation of total energy enclosed by the shock. From this, a simple form for the critical energy has been deduced. This approach leads to a good simulation in uniform mixtures, regardless of initiation conditions. Some applications are presented in this paper. A new experimental study on the detonability of methane/oxygen mixtures diluted with propane and/or nitrogen is reported. The gaseous mixtures are confined in a cylindrical vessel. The initial conditions are various equivalence ratio and pressure under room temperature. In the case of methane/oxygen mixtures, the predetonation radius varies directly with the cell width. The constant ratio is in the order of 18, slightly different from the classical relation R _c= 20λ. For propane the slope variation of the critical energy versus initial pressure depends on the dilution. We have compared the critical energy obtained by several authors with the theoretical values. Fuel ratio and initial pressure are the chosen parameters. These comparisons show that the formulation allows for the prediction of the critical energy of detonation of uniform mixtures with a good estimation range. The correlation between the different geometries has been deduced and a test has been conducted as well in the case of stoichiometric methane/oxygen and acetylene/oxygen mixtures versus initial pressure for a cylindrical detonation. Received 9 January 1996 / Accepted 24 January 1997     

气相爆轰波近失效状态的传播模式

选用五种碳氢混合气体,采用高压电火花起爆的方法,利用光纤探针测量爆轰波在管道内的传播速度,研究临近失效状态时爆轰波在管道内的传播模式。实验是在自行研制的爆轰管道中进行的,其包括驱动段及内径分别为1.5、3.2、12.7 mm三种规格的测试段。实验结果再次验证了爆轰波在管道内传播时可以有六种不同的传播模式:稳态爆轰、快速波动爆轰、结巴式爆轰、驰振爆轰、低速爆轰和爆轰失效。其中C₂H₂+2.5O₂+70% Ar、C₂H₂+2.5O₂+85% Ar两种组分混合气体（具有较低活化能）,在爆轰波传播过程中只有稳态、快速波动和失效三种模式;而C₃H₈+5O₂、C₂H₂+5N₂O和CH₄+2O₂三种组分混合气体（具有较高活化能）在传播过程中出现六种不同模式。上述结果表明,除气体组分、初始压力等因素外,混合气体的活化能可能对爆轰波在管道内的传播状态也有影响。     

管道内全阻塞障碍物对气相爆轰波传播特性的影响

建立了长2 800 mm、内径为50 mm的圆管内爆轰波传播实验装置,采用光电二极管探测火焰锋面以获得爆轰波的传播速度,采用烟迹法记录爆轰波的胞格结构。通过在管道不同位置设置阻塞率为1的聚丙烯薄膜,研究不同初始压力下不同氩气稀释浓度的C₂H₂+2.5O₂+nAr预混气体爆轰波在通过全阻塞障碍物前后传播速度及胞格结构的变化。结果表明,气相爆轰波在达到稳态爆轰后,在通过全阻塞薄膜障碍物的过程中会产生2种不同的传播形式:速度亏损和爆轰失效。气相爆轰波穿过不同区域的传播过程可以分为3个阶段:稳态传播阶段、速度亏损阶段或爆轰失效阶段、过驱爆轰阶段。     

Experimental investigation into the detonation characteristics of hybrid RDX–ethylene–air mixtures

An experimental study is conducted to determine the detonation characteristics of 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX) particles dispersed in a gaseous fuel air mixture in a vertical detonation tube with an inner diameter of 200 mm and a height of 5400 mm. Experiments are performed in both ethylene–air mixtures and RDX–ethylene–air hybrid mixtures. The detonation front pressure and velocity are measured with six pressure transducers along the detonation tube. The results show that the addition of RDX assists 4.0 vol.% ethylene–air mixtures in achieving detonation. The detonation front pressure increases noticeably with dust concentration up to \(474\hbox { g/m}^{3}\) in the RDX–ethylene–air hybrid mixtures, but the velocity only increases slightly. The cellular structures of RDX–ethylene–air hybrid mixtures and ethylene–air mixtures were obtained with the use of smoked foils and exhibit irregular structures. It is found that the measured cell size has a U-shaped curve with respect to RDX concentration.     

Response of critical tube diameter phenomenon to small perturbations for gaseous detonations

In this experimental study, the critical tube diameter phenomenon of gaseous detonations is investigated in both stable and unstable mixtures with focus on the failure mechanism. It was previously postulated that in unstable mixtures, where the cellular detonation front is highly irregular, the failure is caused by the suppression of local re-initiation centers linked to the dynamics of instabilities. In stable mixtures, typically with high argon dilution, the detonation structure is very regular and the failure mode is attributed to the excessive curvature of the global front. In order to differentiate between these two failure mechanisms, flow perturbations are introduced by placing an obstacle resulting in a minimal blockage ratio of approximately 8 %. The obstacle is placed at the tube exit, before the detonation diffraction. Results show that the perturbations caused by the obstacle only have an effect on undiluted (i.e., unstable) mixtures, causing a decrease in the minimum initial pressure required for successful detonation transmission. This thus demonstrates that local hydrodynamic instabilities play an important role for the critical tube diameter phenomenon in undiluted, unstable mixtures. In contrast, the results for the stable, argon-diluted mixture exhibit little variation in critical initial pressure between the perturbed and unperturbed cases. This can be attributed to the minimal effect of the perturbations on global curvature for the emergent detonation wave. The geometry of the perturbation is also tested, while holding the blockage area constant, by varying the number and position of the obstacle(s). The results demonstrate that the transmission of a detonation is independent of the blockage geometry and is only a function of its imposed blockage area. Consequently, the change in required minimum pressure for transmission shows an identical behavior in unstable mixtures for different perturbation geometries while the transmission characteristics of the stable mixture remain unaffected.     

Experimental study and kinetic modeling of the thermal decomposition of gaseous monomethylhydrazine. Application to detonation sensitivity

The thermal decomposition of gaseous monomethylhydrazine has been studied in a 38.4 mm i.d. shock tube behind a reflected shock wave at 1040–1370 K, 140–455 kPa and in mixtures containing 97 to 99 mol% argon, by using MMH absorption at 220 nm. A chemical kinetic model based on MMH decomposition profiles has been developed. This model has been used, with some assumptions, to evaluate the detonation sensitivity of pure gaseous MMH. This compound is found to be much less sensitive to detonation than hydrazine. An abridged version of this paper was presented at the 15th Int. Colloquium on the Dynamics of Explosions and Reactive Systems at Boulder, Colorado, from July 30 to August 4, 1995     

2021-08期封面

铝粉反应模型是对悬浮铝粉尘气-固两相爆轰进行数值模拟研究的关键。通过考虑铝粉燃烧产物氧化铝（Al₂O₃）在高温下的分解吸热反应,改进了铝粉的扩散燃烧模型。将该模型嵌入到三维的气-固两相爆轰数值计算程序中,分别对铝粉/空气混合物以及铝粉/氧气混合物的爆轰进行了数值模拟,计算得到的稳定爆轰波速度与实验结果、文献值均吻合较好,误差小于5.5%,表明改进的铝粉反应模型适用于不同氧化气体氛围中铝粉尘爆轰的模拟计算。此外,对两相爆轰参数及爆轰流场的物理量分布进行分析,获得了铝粉反应模型对爆轰波结构的影响规律。     

Global modelling of heat release during initiation and propagation of detonation and deflagration waves in methane-air-particle systems

In the present paper the direct initiation of a self supporting detonation and propagation of a low-speed combustion in methane-air-coal particles mixtures are solved. For particles, a heterogeneous regime of combustion is used, for methane one overall chemical reaction is taken into account: CH + 2O = CO + 2HO. The heat release rate is assumed to be defined as a delay time based on the well-known thermal theory of Frank-Kamenetsky (1967). The proposed model allows one to investigate the influence inert particles or coal dust on the explosion limits of methane-air mixtures. It is shown that the addition of a limited quantity of particles leads to detonation stability. In low speed combustion problems this method allows one to get a good correlation between theoretical and experimental velocities of steady flame propagation in carbon-hydrogen gaseous mixtures. Coal dust influence on gasdynamics of a methane-air mixture combustion is investigated in an unsteady problem by using of the global modelling. It is shown that limited coal dust concentration increases the flame wave intensity in lean methane-air mixtures in contrast to inert particles. In stoichiometric gas mixtures, sand and coal dusts decrease a flame velocity. Far from the ignition point flame, the velocity is largely defined by the dust mass concentration and not by the size of particles. Received 5 July 1997 / Accepted 13 July 1998     

Detonation diffraction from an annular channel

In this study, gaseous detonation diffraction from an annular channel was investigated with a streak camera and the critical pressure for transmission of the detonation wave was obtained. The annular channel was used to approximate an infinite slot resulting in cylindrically expanding detonation waves. Two mixtures, stoichiometric acetylene–oxygen and stoichiometric acetylene–oxygen with 70% Ar dilution, were tested in a 4.3 and 14.3 mm channel width (W). The undiluted and diluted mixtures were found to have values of the critical channel width over the cell size around 3 and 12 respectively. Comparing these results to values of the critical diameter (d _c ), in which a spherical detonation occurs, a value of critical d _c /W _c near 2 is observed for the highly diluted mixture. This value corresponds to the geometrical factor of the curvature term between a spherical and cylindrical diverging wave. Hence, the result is in support of Lee’s proposed mechanism [Lee in Dynamics of Exothermicity, pp. 321, Gordon and Breach, Amsterdam, 1996] for failure due to diffraction based on curvature in stable mixtures such as those highly argon diluted with very regular detonation cellular patterns.     

液体碳氢燃料云雾爆轰特性的实验研究

采用升降法和烟迹技术在立式激波管中分别实测了液态燃料（环氧丙烷、硝酸异丙酯、己烷、C5~C6、庚烷、癸烷）与空气混合物直接起爆的临界起爆能和胞格尺寸。数据表明,气液两相云雾爆轰的临界起爆能与当量比呈U形曲线关系,这与气相爆轰得到的结论是一致的;临界起爆能的最小值并不是对应于等化学当量的混合物而是偏向于富燃料;根据三波点运动的烟迹记录,分析了云雾爆轰作用机制,认为液滴的碎解、汽化过程以及燃烧区前导是控制气液两相云雾爆轰的主要步骤。此外,还测定了无限空间下可燃气云的临界起爆能,并将激波管内得到的临界起爆能数据外推到无约束气云的临界起爆能,理论推算结果与实验值吻合较好。     

The detonation burning of a fuel mixture resulting from a double explosion

A study is made of the propagation of a multifront detonation burning in a fuel mixture consisting of a gaseous fuel and an oxidant with additions of combustible solid or liquid particles arising as a result of a double point explosion. In such combustible media it is possible for there to be propagation of several detonation or burning fronts following one after the other. The easily igniting gaseous fuel burns in the first detonation wave, which propagates in the gaseous mixture with particles which are heated by the products of the explosion, ignite and burn in the second detonation wave or in the flame front. Self-similar regimes of propagation of such waves in an idealized formulation were studied in [1].Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 126–131, March–April, 1985.     

多障碍物通道中激波诱导气相爆轰的数值研究

应用数值模拟方法,研究了直通道中激波经过多块矩形障碍物时诱导 H2/O2混合气体起爆的物理机制. 研究表明：在前导激波强度不足以诱导波后气 体直接起爆的条件下,经过激波压缩的可燃气体也可能在远离激波的障碍物之间的凹槽部位 起爆;障碍物表面产生的压缩波、膨胀波和气流滑移面对可燃气体的起爆、爆轰波的形成和 传播过程有重要的影响;添加不同稀释比的氮气可以影响爆轰波后流场的温度分布;增加障 碍物的间距可以改变可燃气起爆位置.     

Initiation of gaseous detonation by a high speed body

The investigation of detonation initiated by the passage of a high speed body is presented. The following experiments are carried out for mixture of C₂H₂ + 2.5 O₂ passed by a hemispherical or blunt cylinder with velocity ranging from 800 to 1400 m/s. A new mechanism of the transformation of shock waves to detonation waves is observed at near-critical regimes. The analytical correlation between the aerodynamical characteristics of high speed body and the physico-chemical parameters of explosive mixture is proposed as the initiation criterion of gaseous detonation. Analytical and experimental data agree well with each other.This article was processed using Springer-Verlag T_EX Shock Waves macro package 1.0 and the AMS fonts, developed by the American Mathematical Society.     

Direct Monte-Carlo simulation of developing detonation in gas

The research on gaseous detonation has recently become a very important issue, mainly due to safety reasons in connection with increasing use of gaseous fuels. To simulate detonation, the direct Monte-Carlo simulation technique has been proposed, together with simple model of molecular collisions, making it possible to heat the gas in a way similar to the processes in the flame. Such model is capable of producing waves, having the features characteristic for detonation (Dremin in Towards detonation theory. Springer, 1999). In the present work the influence of finite reaction time and the inverse reaction upon formation and extinguishing detonation, in the framework of this model, has been investigated.