Explosion characteristics of methane for CFD modeling and simulation of turbulent gas flow behavior during explosion

The effect of initial concentration on the explosion behavior of a stoichiometric CH₄/O₂/N₂ mixture under air-combustion conditions was studied. Two mathematical models were used with the aim at simulating the gas explosion in the middle scale explosion vessel, and the associated effects of the temperature for different gas/air concentrations. Peak pressure, maximum rate of pressure rise and laminar burning velocity were measured from pressure time records of explosions occurring in a 1 m³ closed cylindrical vessel. The results of the models were validated considering a set of data (pressure time histories and root mean square velocity). The obtained results are relevant to the practice of gas explosion testing and the interpretation of test results and, they should be taken as the input data for CFD simulation to improve the conditions for standard tests.