Explosive decomposition of ethylene oxide at elevated condition: effect of ignition energy, nitrogen dilution, and turbulence [An article from: Journal of Hazardous Materials]

This digital document is a journal article from Journal of Hazardous Materials, published by Elsevier in 2005. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
Experimental and theoretical investigation of explosive decomposition of ethylene oxide (EO) at fixed initial experimental parameters (T=100^oC, P=4bar) in a 20-l sphere was conducted. Safety-related parameters, namely the maximum explosion pressure, the maximum rate of pressure rise, and the K"d values, were experimentally determined for pure ethylene oxide and ethylene oxide diluted with nitrogen. The influence of the ignition energy on the explosion parameters was also studied. All these dependencies are quantified in empirical formulas. Additionally, the effect of turbulence on explosive decomposition of ethylene oxide was investigated. In contrast to previous studies, it is found that turbulence significantly influences the explosion severity parameters, mostly the rate of pressure rise. Thermodynamic models are used to calculate the maximum explosion pressure of pure and of nitrogen-diluted ethylene oxide, at different initial temperatures. Soot formation was experimentally observed. Relation between the amounts of soot formed and the explosion pressure was experimentally observed and was calculated.