Flame acceleration in tube explosions with up to three flat-bar obstacles with variable obstacle separation distance

• Effect of obstacle spacing was studied using obstacles of similar blockage but different scale.
• Optimum separation distance does not change with number of obstacles.
• High congestion in a given layout does not necessarily imply higher explosion severity.
• Less congested but optimally separated obstructions can lead to higher overpressures.
• The existing explosion protection guidelines may not always be based on worst case scenarios.

The effect of obstacle separation distance on the severity of gas explosions has received little methodical study. It was the aim of this work to investigate the influence of obstacle spacing of up to three flat-bar obstacles. The tests were performed using methane-air (10% by vol.), in an elongated vented cylindrical vessel 162 mm internal diameter with an overall length-to-diameter, L/D, of 27.7. The obstacles had either 2 or 4 flat-bars and presenting 20% blockage ratio to the flow path. The different number of flat-bars for the same blockage achieved a change of the obstacle scale which was also part of this investigation. The first two obstacles were kept at the established optimum spacing and only the spacing between the second and third obstacles was varied. The profiles of maximum flame speed and overpressure with separation distance were shown to agree with the cold flow turbulence profile determined in cold flows by other researchers. However, the present results showed that the maximum effect in explosions is experienced at 80 to 100 obstacle scales about 4 times further downstream than the position of maximum turbulence determined in the cold flow studies. Similar trends were observed for the flames speeds. In both cases the optimum spacing between the second and third obstacles corresponded to the same optimum spacing found for the first two obstacles demonstrating that the optimum separation distance does not change with number of obstacles. In planning the layout of new installations, the worst case separation distance needs to be avoided but incorporated when assessing the risk to existing set-ups. The results clearly demonstrate that high congestion in a given layout does not necessarily imply higher explosion severity as traditionally assumed. Less congested but optimally separated obstructions can lead to higher overpressures.