Numerical simulation on methane explosion propagation in a one-dimensional straight duct with porous metal materials

Zhenzhen Jia^{1, 2}, Feng Tao^{1, 2}

COMPUTER MODELLING & NEW TECHNOLOGIES 2014 18(4) 275-282

¹School of Resources and Safety Engineering Central South University, Changsha City, Hunan Province, China, 410083
²School of Energy and Safety Engineering Hunan University of Science and Technology, Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, China, 411201

Based on the theoretical and experimental results of methane explosion propagation in porous metal materials, methane explosion propagation in a one-dimensional straight duct with different layers of porous metal materials is simulated by Fluent software. The layers and length of porous metal materials have influence on the flame propagation velocity and explosion shockwave overpressure. Only the propagation distance of methane explosion is beyond 5 times the diameter of the duct, the flame and explosion wave can be attenuated by the porous metal materials. Moreover, the more the layers are, the better the attenuation effect is. The numerical simulation results show that, during methane explosion propagation in porous metal materials, the attenuations of explosion wave overpressure and flame propagation velocity takes on synchronization and correspondence. Consequently, the porous metal materials can suppress methane explosion propagation. The process of methane explosion in the duct well reappears with numerical simulation, thus the model is established correctly and the numerical simulation is a good supplementary means of experiment.