On the mechanism of pressure rise in vented explosions: A numerical study

Accidental gas explosions are a significant concern in process industries. In an explosion event, the promotion of flame acceleration due to turbulence generated from obstacles is responsible for many severe damages. This paper discusses the numerical evaluation and the mechanism of pressure rise in vented explosions in the presence of obstructions using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The large eddy simulation (LES) technique is employed with a dynamic flame surface density (DFSD) in the combustion model to account for the filtered chemical source term. The experimental test case considered for the validation of simulations is a small-scale explosion chamber with removable baffle plates and obstacles. It is found that the maximum overpressure increases with the baffle plates moved downstream from the ignition source or when additional baffles are placed in sequence. Large separation between baffles and the central obstacle results in lower overpressure due to the relaminarisation of the flame front. The trend of explosion overpressure is related to the competition between the strength of venting and expansion in the explosion chamber. Extensive interactions between the flame and the obstruction-generated turbulence are found to wrinkle the flame front and increase the burning rate. Satisfactory agreements have been obtained between LES and the experimental data. This confirms the capability of the developed model in predicting essential safety-related parameters in vented explosions. Results reveal the potential of using LES in the selection of design aspects for loss prevention, such as the area of vents and distance between congested regions in chemical processing plants