Effects of inert gas addition on the characteristics of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels
In the serious accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, the presence of steam together with flammable organic compounds affected the hydrogen explosion. To investigate the effects of addition of inert gas, i.e. steam or nitrogen, on the explosion characteristics, we conducted the experim...
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The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Journal of Thermal Science and Technology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jtst/20/1/20_25-00103/_pdf/-char/en |
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| author | Toshiyuki KATSUMI Atsushi ZEMBA Makoto KOGISHI Kohei IWANAGA Satoshi ABE Pascal DIÉVART Nabiha CHAUMEIX Satoshi KADOWAKI |
| author_facet | Toshiyuki KATSUMI Atsushi ZEMBA Makoto KOGISHI Kohei IWANAGA Satoshi ABE Pascal DIÉVART Nabiha CHAUMEIX Satoshi KADOWAKI |
| author_sort | Toshiyuki KATSUMI |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the serious accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, the presence of steam together with flammable organic compounds affected the hydrogen explosion. To investigate the effects of addition of inert gas, i.e. steam or nitrogen, on the explosion characteristics, we conducted the experiments of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels. Two types of vessels were used, and expanding flames were caught by Schlieren method. The flame propagation velocity depending on the flame radius was obtained by analyzing Schlieren images. When the flame radius was sufficiently small, smooth surface was found. The addition of inert gas to hydrogen-methane-air premixtures caused the decrease of propagation velocity of unstretched flame. When the flame radius was large, on the other hand, cellular surface generated by intrinsic instability was found. In this range, the flame acceleration was confirmed, which was induced by the evolution of cellular surface. We obtained the parameters of flame acceleration model and predicted the flame propagation velocity depending on the flame radius. The increment coefficient normalized by the propagation velocity of unstretched flame became larger at low equivalence ratios, which was due to stronger diffusive-thermal instability. Under the same equivalence ratio, the inert gas addition caused the increase of normalized increment coefficient. This denoted that the inert gas addition promoted the instability of premixed flames, which was due to the reduction of the effective Lewis number. The maximum pressure in a combustion vessel became lower in the case of inert gas addition. Moreover, the maximum pressure of experiments was lower than that of calculations under the adiabatic conditions, because of heat loss during premixed combustion. The obtained results were valuable knowledge to elucidate the hydrogen explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1bd528dd552240e6900fd1aa1c1924c0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1880-5566 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Thermal Science and Technology |
| spelling | doaj-art-1bd528dd552240e6900fd1aa1c1924c02025-08-20T03:29:35ZengThe Japan Society of Mechanical EngineersJournal of Thermal Science and Technology1880-55662025-06-0120125-0010325-0010310.1299/jtst.25-00103jtstEffects of inert gas addition on the characteristics of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vesselsToshiyuki KATSUMI0Atsushi ZEMBA1Makoto KOGISHI2Kohei IWANAGA3Satoshi ABE4Pascal DIÉVART5Nabiha CHAUMEIX6Satoshi KADOWAKI7Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of TechnologyDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of TechnologyDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Nagaoka University of TechnologyOffice for Accident Measures of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Nuclear Regulation AuthorityNuclear Safety Research Center, Nuclear Safety and Emergency Preparedness Institute, Japan Atomic Energy AgencyCNRS-Ingénierie, Institut de Combustion, Aérothermique, Réactivité et EnvironnementCNRS-Ingénierie, Institut de Combustion, Aérothermique, Réactivité et EnvironnementDepartment of System Safety Engineering, Nagaoka University of TechnologyIn the serious accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, the presence of steam together with flammable organic compounds affected the hydrogen explosion. To investigate the effects of addition of inert gas, i.e. steam or nitrogen, on the explosion characteristics, we conducted the experiments of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels. Two types of vessels were used, and expanding flames were caught by Schlieren method. The flame propagation velocity depending on the flame radius was obtained by analyzing Schlieren images. When the flame radius was sufficiently small, smooth surface was found. The addition of inert gas to hydrogen-methane-air premixtures caused the decrease of propagation velocity of unstretched flame. When the flame radius was large, on the other hand, cellular surface generated by intrinsic instability was found. In this range, the flame acceleration was confirmed, which was induced by the evolution of cellular surface. We obtained the parameters of flame acceleration model and predicted the flame propagation velocity depending on the flame radius. The increment coefficient normalized by the propagation velocity of unstretched flame became larger at low equivalence ratios, which was due to stronger diffusive-thermal instability. Under the same equivalence ratio, the inert gas addition caused the increase of normalized increment coefficient. This denoted that the inert gas addition promoted the instability of premixed flames, which was due to the reduction of the effective Lewis number. The maximum pressure in a combustion vessel became lower in the case of inert gas addition. Moreover, the maximum pressure of experiments was lower than that of calculations under the adiabatic conditions, because of heat loss during premixed combustion. The obtained results were valuable knowledge to elucidate the hydrogen explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jtst/20/1/20_25-00103/_pdf/-char/enpremixed combustionhydrogen explosionspherically expanding flameinert gas additioncellular surfaceflame accelerationintrinsic instabilityvessel pressurenuclear power station |
| spellingShingle | Toshiyuki KATSUMI Atsushi ZEMBA Makoto KOGISHI Kohei IWANAGA Satoshi ABE Pascal DIÉVART Nabiha CHAUMEIX Satoshi KADOWAKI Effects of inert gas addition on the characteristics of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels Journal of Thermal Science and Technology premixed combustion hydrogen explosion spherically expanding flame inert gas addition cellular surface flame acceleration intrinsic instability vessel pressure nuclear power station |
| title | Effects of inert gas addition on the characteristics of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels |
| title_full | Effects of inert gas addition on the characteristics of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels |
| title_fullStr | Effects of inert gas addition on the characteristics of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of inert gas addition on the characteristics of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels |
| title_short | Effects of inert gas addition on the characteristics of spherically expanding hydrogen-methane-air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels |
| title_sort | effects of inert gas addition on the characteristics of spherically expanding hydrogen methane air premixed flames in closed combustion vessels |
| topic | premixed combustion hydrogen explosion spherically expanding flame inert gas addition cellular surface flame acceleration intrinsic instability vessel pressure nuclear power station |
| url | https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/jtst/20/1/20_25-00103/_pdf/-char/en |
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