Static Experimental Study on Flame Retardant and Explosion Suppression Performances of Fire Resistant Diesel Fuel

To assess the flame retardant and explosion suppression performances of fire resistant diesel fuel, static experiments with ordinary diesel fuel (Diesel fuel 1, D1 for short) and fire resistant diesel fuel (Diesel fuel 2, D2 for short) detonated by explosives were performed in this study. The explosion process and surface temperature of the fireballs were recorded using a high-speed camera and an infrared thermal imager. Meanwhile, the overpressures of the explosion shock waves of the two diesels were also recorded using pressure sensors embedded in the ground. The experimental results show that the diesel fuels are dispersed and ignited to produce explosion fireball when explosive is detonated in fuel tank. At the same time, part of diesel fuel produces pool fire on the ground. The pool fire of D1 lasts about 3000 ms, while D2 lasting only about 700 ms. The maximum temperature and the duration of high temperature of D1 explosion fireball are 1558.8°C and 1392 ms respectively, which are 1.11 and 1.29 times those of D2. In the position of 2 m far from the vertical projection point of the explosion center, the overpressure of the explosion shock wave of D1 is 53.30 kPa, while that of D2 is 31.60 kPa. Moreover, the overpressures of D1 are also higher in the other location of the pressure area. Therefore, it is proved that the explosive power of D2 is significantly lower than that of D1, and the flame retardant and explosion suppression performances of D2 is better than those of D1.