Simulation studies on the influence of other combustible gases on the characteristics of methane explosions at constant volume and high temperature

Gas explosions are major disasters in coal mining, and they typically cause a large number of deaths, injuries and property losses. An appropriate understanding of the effects of combustible gases on the characteristics of methane explosions is essential to prevent and control methane explosions. FLACS software was used to simulate an explosion of a mixture of CH4 and combustible gases (C2H4, C2H6, H2, and CO) at various mixing concentrations and different temperatures (25, 60, 100, 140 and 180℃). After adding combustible gases to methane at a constant volume and atmospheric pressure, the adiabatic flame temperature linearly increases as the initial temperature increases. Under stoichiometric conditions (9.5% CH4-air mixture), the addition of C2H4 and C2H6 has a greater effect on the adiabatic flame temperature of methane than H2 and CO at different initial temperatures. Under the fuel-lean CH4-air mixture (7% CH4-air mixture) and fuel-rich mixture (11% CH4-air mixture), the addition of H2 and CO has a greater effect on the adiabatic flame temperature of methane. In contrast, the addition of combustible gases negatively affected the maximum explosion pressure of the CH4-air mixture, exhibiting a linearly decreasing trend with increasing initial temperature. As the volume fraction of the mixed gas increases, the adiabatic flame temperature and maximum explosion pressure of the stoichiometric conditions increase. In contrast, under the fuel-rich mixture, the combustible gas slightly lowered the adiabatic flame temperature and the maximum explosion pressure. When the initial temperature was 140℃, the fuel consumption time was approximately 8-10 ms earlier than that at the initial temperature of 25℃. When the volume fraction of the combustible gas was 2.0%, the consumption time of fuel reduced by approximately 10 ms compared with that observed when the volume fraction of flammable gas was 0.4%