Synergy effects of Novec 1230 and venting on ethanol-gasoline vapor explosion inhibition

ABSTRACT

As ethanol-gasoline is being widely used as an energy-saving alternative around the world, its fire/explosion problems needed to be solved, but few research studies involve its explosion inhibition. Additionally, although dodecafluoro-2-methylpentan-3-one (Novec 1230) was a long-term replacement of Halon, its use in explosion inhibitions has not been found. This work aims to investigate synergy inhibition effects of Novec 1230 and venting on ethanol-gasoline (E10) vapor explosion. Flame propagation and pressure data were recorded using a high-speed camera and three pressure transducers, respectively. The chemical principle of E10 explosion inhibition using Novec 1230 was inferred and verified by reaction product analysis using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The results indicate that synergy of venting and Novec 1230 can effectively inhibit flame propagation and explosion overpressure of E10. As $\phi$ increased from 0 to 1.5, all typical overpressure peak structures ($P_b$, $P_{fv}$, $P_{cv}$, $P_{ext}$) were inhibited and the best $P_{cv}$ reached 74.5%. For vented ducts, $\phi$ showed negative linear correlations with $P_{max}$ and $K_G$, $P_{max}$, and $K_G$ were quadratic increments monotonously with the vent coefficient ($Kv$). Two formulas were obtained, which can be used to quantitatively calculate $P_{max}$ and $K_G$ at various $\phi$ and $Kv$ values. These results were useful for conditions that actual engineering required two explosion inhibition means simultaneously and Novec 1230 explosion inhibition system design.

KEYWORDS:

• Novec 1230
• venting
• explosion inhibition
• ethanol-gasoline
• GC-MS analysis

Nomenclature

Table

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No. 51874265), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. WK2320000046), and the University Synergy Innovation Program of Anhui Province (No. GXXT-2019-027).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [No. WK2320000046], National Natural Science Foundation of China [(No. 51874265], and University Synergy Innovation Program of Anhui Province [No. GXXT-2019-027].

Notes on contributors

Chuanyu Pan

Chuanyu Pan, student pursuing a Ph.D. degree, studied at State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China.

Jiangyue Zhao

Jiangyue Zhao, student pursuing a Master degree, studied at State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China.

Xiaolong Zhu

Xiaolong Zhu, Ph.D., postdoctoral, worked at State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China.

Huazhong Sun

Huazhong Sun, student pursuing a Master degree, studied at State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China.

Guochun Li

Guochun Li, Ph.D., worked at Shandong State Grid Electricity Research Institute, China.

Yangpeng Liu

Yangpeng Liu, Ph.D., postdoctoral, worked at Huzhou Institute of Zhejiang University, China.

Xishi Wang

Xishi Wang, Ph.D., professor, and doctoral supervisor, worked at State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China.