Flammability limits of binary mixtures of dimethyl ether with five diluent gases

•Flammability limits of DME with five diluent gases including N2, CO2, HCFC-22, HFC-134a and HFC-227ea were obtained.•Experimental results were fitted with the extended Le Chatelier's formula.•Flammability limits of DME + N2 and DME + CO2 were estimated by the adiabatic flame temperature method.

Flammability limits of binary mixtures of dimethyl ether with five kinds of diluent gases were measured by ASHRAE method at room temperature. The five diluent gases are nitrogen, carbon dioxide, chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22), 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoroethane (HFC-134a) and 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-heptafluoropropane (HFC-227ea). The experimental results were correlated with the extended Le Chatelier's formula. It was found that the experimental results were well reproduced by the formula. In addition, flammability limits of binary mixtures of dimethyl ether with nitrogen and carbon dioxide were compared with the estimated values based on the adiabatic flame temperature method. The experimental results were found to be in satisfactory agreement with the estimated values.

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