i

THE EFFECT OF NITROGEN DILUTION ON THE FLAMMABILITY

LIMITS OF HYDROGEN ENRICHED NATURAL GAS

NORLISTA BINTI SALIMAN

A thesis submitted in fulfillment

of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Chemical Engineering (Gas Technology)

Faculty of Chemical & Natural Resources Engineering

Universiti Malaysia Pahang

December 2010
 v

ABSTRACT

Nitrogen dilution is a common procedure for ensuring safety in used of the

flammable gas like hydrogen enriched natural gas which has higher burning velocity.
The objective of this study is to determine the flammability limits of hydrogen
enriched natural gas to the combustion and to determine the correlation of nitrogen
dilution towards the hydrogen enriched natural gas. The experiment was performed
in a 20L closed vessel of explosion unit. The mixtures were ignited by using spark
permanent wire that place at the centre of the vessel. The pressure-time variation data
during the explosion of the natural gas/hydrogen/air mixture after nitrogen is added
in a vessel was recorded. Since the explosion vessel does not allow direct visual
observation of the flame, the explosion vessel uses an indirect measurement of the
flame propagation which is the explosion pressure. The explosion pressure data is
use to determine the flammability limits of hydrogen enriched natural gas. In this
study, the result shows that the flammability limits of natural gas/hydrogen/air
mixture are changed after nitrogen is added into the mixture. When 7 % volume of
nitrogen is added into the natural gas/ hydrogen/ air mixture, the upper flammability
limit is changed from 16 % to 14 % volume of natural gas. Then, nitrogen diluted
from 7 % volume up to 9 % volume of nitrogen reduces the upper flammability limit
of hydrogen enriched natural gas from 14 % to 11 % of natural gas by volume. So,
the range of the flammability limits also reduced when the volume of nitrogen is
increased.
 vi

ABSTRAK

Pencairan nitrogen adalah prosedur untuk memastikan keselamatan semasa

penggunaan bahan mudah terbakar seperti gas asli cmpuran hidrogen yang
mempunyai kelajuan pembakaran yang lebih tinggi. Tujuan penyelidikan ini adalah
untuk menentukan had pembakaran bagi gas asli campuran hidrogen dan untuk
mengenalpasti hubungkait di antara pencairan nitrogen dengan gas asli campuran
hidrogen. Eksperimen ini dijalankan di dalam 20 L bekas letupan yang tertutup.
Campuran gas akan dicucuh dengan menggunakan wayar percikan tetap yang
terletak di tengah bekas letupan. Variasi tekanan-masa semasa letupan campuran gas
asli, hidrogen, nitrogen dan udara direkodkan. Data tekanan letupan digunakan untuk
menentukan had pembakaran gas asli campuran hidrogen. Dalam penyelidikan ini,
keputusan menunjukkan had pembakaran campuran gas asli, hidrogen dan udara
bertambah setelah gas nitrogen ditambah ke dalam campuran. Apabila 7 % isipadu
nitrogen ditambah ke dalam campuran gas asli hidrogen dan udara, had pembakaran
maksimum telah berubah daripada 16 % isipadu kepada 14 % isipadu natural gas.
Kemudian, pencairan nitrogen daripada 7 % isipadu meningkat kepada 9 % isipadu
nitrogen telah mengurangkan had pembakaran maksimum untuk gas asli campuran
hydrogen iaitu daripada 14 % kepada 11 % isipadu gas asli. Maka, julat had
pembakaran berkurang apabila isipadu nitrogen bertambah.
 vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ITEM PAGE

TITLE PAGE i
DECLARATION ii
DEDICATION iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv
ABSTRACT v
ABATRAK vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS vii
LIST OF TABLES x
LIST OF FIGURES xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xii

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of Study 1

1.2 Problem Statement 2
1.3 Objectives of Study 3
1.4 Scope of Study 3
1.5 Significant of Study 4

. 2 LITERATURE REVIEW
.
2.1 Natural Gas 5
2.2 Hydrogen Enriched Natural Gas 6
2.3 Nitrogen Dilution 7
2.4 Flammability Limits 8
2.4.1 Lower Flammability Limit 9
 viii

2.4.2 Upper Flammability Limit 10

2.5 Nitrogen Dilution Effect on the 10
Flammability Limits
2.6 Explosion in Closed Vessel 13

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Experimental Apparatus 14

3.1.1 20 – L – Sphere 15
3.1.2 Measurement and Control System 16
KSEP 332
3.2 Experimental Condition 17
3.2.1 Pressure and Temperature 17
3.2.2 Ignition 17
3.3 Experimental Procedure 18

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction 24
4.2 Experimental Result of NG/ Air 26
Mixture
4.3 Experimental Result of H2 enriched 28
NG without N2 Dilution
4.4 Experimental Result of H2 enriched 30
NG with 7 % volume of N2 Added
4.5 Experimental Result of H2 enriched 32
NG with 9 % volume of N2 Added
4.6 Comparison data for NG/ Air Mixture 35
NG/ H2/ Air Mixture and NG/ H2/ Air
Mixture with Addition of N2
4.7 Manual Calculation of Combustion 38
Flammability Limits
4.8 Cost Calculation of Fuel Used of the 42
Mixture of NG/ H2/ N2
 ix

5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion 46
5.2 Recommendations 47

REFERENCES 48

APPENDICES 51
 x

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO TITLE PAGE

3.1 Test Condition of the Experiment 17

4.1 Experimental Result of NG/ Air Mixture 26
4.2 Experimental Result of H2 Enriched NG without 28
N2 Dilution
4.3 Experimental Result of H2 Enriched NG with Addition 30
of 7 % volume of N2
4.4 Experimental Result of H2 Enriched NG with Addition 32
of 9 % volume of N2
4.5 Comparison Data of Pressure Explosion for Various 36
NG/Air Mixtures
4.6 Comparison between flammability limits of the 38
experimental method with manual calculation when
7% volume of N2 is added
4.7 Comparison between flammability limits of the 40
experimental method with manual calculation when
9 % volume of N2 is added
4.8 The properties and price of one cylinder of each gas 42
used in this study
4.9 Comparison between costs of NG only with cost of H2 43
enriched NG with addition of 7 % volume of N2
4.10 Comparison between costs of NG only with cost of H2 44
enriched NG with addition of 9 % volume of N2
 xi

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO TITLE PAGE

2.1 Schematic represents flammability limits 8

3.1 Schematic Diagram of 20 – L - Apparatus 14
3.2 Schematic Diagram of Experimental Set up 15
3.3 Schematic of KSEP 332 16
3.4 Gas Fire Explosion Unit 18
3.5 Diagram of Igniter between the Electrode rods 19
3.6 Test condition data for pressure, temperature and 19
Ignition energy
3.7 Pressure signal represents as pressure versus time graph 20
3.8 Experimental work flow 21
3.9 Picture of Explosion Unit 23
3.10 Picture of Electrode Rods 23
4.1 Graph of NG/ Air Mixture 27
4.2 Graph of H2 enriched NG without N2 Dilution 29
4.3 Graph of H2 enriched NG with 7 % volume of N2 Added 31
4.4 Graph of H2 enriched NG with 9 % volume of N2 Added 33
4.5 Comparison data of pressure explosion for various 35
NG/Air mixtures
 xii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

NG : Natural gas
CH4 : Methane
H2 : Hydrogen
N2 : Nitrogen
O2 : Oxygen
LFL : Lower Flammability Limit
UFL : Upper Flammability Limit
NOX : Nitrogen oxide
CO : Carbon monoxide
CO2 : Carbon dioxide
HCNG : Hydrogen enriched Compressed Natural Gas
UEL : Upper Explosive Limit
LOC : Limiting Oxygen Concentration
Pexp : Explosion Pressure
Pmax : Maximum Explosion Pressure
Θexp : Explosion Time
tv : Ignition Delay Time
IE : Ignition Energy
Pm : Corrected Explosion Pressure
 1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

With recent dramatically increased crude oil price, the inevitable decline in
petrol resources and the increasing concern of environmental protection,
investigation on alternative fuel has attracted more and more attention. Natural gas is
regarded as one of the most promising clean fuels. Due to its unique tetrahedral
molecular structure, the main constituent of natural gas which is methane has narrow
operational limits and is relatively difficult to be ignited. Consequently the utilization
of natural gas can increase the severity of cyclic variations under fuel-lean conditions,
leading to low thermal efficiency and high unburned hydrocarbon emissions. One of
the effective methods to improve its lean operation is to add fuels with faster burning
velocity. Hydrogen seems to be the best candidate, which is difficult to be used
directly by transport engines due to the safety, storage and economics reason.
(Haiyan et al 2009)

With respect to the safety issues, dilution with inert gas like nitrogen is a
common procedure to ensuring safety in use of flammable gas like hydrogen
enriched natural gas. Inerting is the process of adding an inert gas to a combustible
mixture to reduce the concentration of the oxygen below the limiting oxygen
concentration for the purpose of lowering the likelihood of explosion. (Chen et al
2009)

The concentration of O2 in air at which the atmosphere will no longer support

combustion known as Limiting Oxygen Concentration (LOC) for combustion. LOC
 2

values vary depending on the material involved and the inert gas used. LOC test is
usually performed in the 20 – L – sphere vessel. (Ebadat, 2002)

Knowledge of the explosion hazard of natural gas is important to ensure the

safety in industrial and domestic applications that produce or use flammable mixture
like natural gas. Nitrogen dilution to the fuels reduces the burning velocity
remarkably by reducing the thermal diffusivity and flame temperature of the mixture.

The effect of combustion of natural gas also depends on the hydrogen

fraction of the fuel. But in this study, there is only a consideration about the effect of
several range of nitrogen dilution to the constant amount of hydrogen in natural gas.
The result in this study also can be used in understanding the combustion
characteristic based on the effect of different amount of nitrogen dilution to the
hydrogen enriched natural gas.

1.2 Problem Statement

One of the major problems associated with applying hydrogen in natural gas-
air mixture in the industry is the combustion- induced disaster such as fire and
explosion. It is because hydrogen has relatively fast burning velocity and low
ignition energy. (Chenglong et al 2009)

With the rapid increase of the industries, the explosion accident regarding to
flammable chemical or gases has been seen to be one of the most serious accidents
that occur nowadays. This accidental damage has been causing many serious
damages in the industries.

Most of combustible chemical can cause explosion when they are mixed with
an oxidant like O2 and then ignite with an energy source like electrical source. There
are a lot of these flammable chemicals in the Chemical Engineering Industries such
as NG storage and LPG storage.

So, for ensuring the safety in use of flammable gas like H2 enriched NG,
dilution with nitrogen is a better solution. The process can reduce the concentration
 3

of oxygen below the limiting oxygen concentration for the purpose of lowering the
likelihood of explosion. (Chen et al 2009)

Nitrogen dilution process can reduce the burning velocity and increase the
Lower Flammability Limit (LFL) of that hydrogen enriched natural gas. (Prathap et
al 2008)

1.3 Objective of Study

a) To determine the flammability limits of natural gas in combustion.

b) To determine the effect of nitrogen dilution on the hydrogen enriched natural
gas.

1.4 Scope of Study

This study is conducted to determine the effect of nitrogen dilution on the

flammability limits of H2 enriched NG in a constant volume spherical vessel with a
volume of 20 L by using conventional spark ignition system which is located at the
centre of the vessel.

In this study, CH4 with 96 % purity is used to replace the NG. CH4 can be
used to indicate the properties of NG since the major component in NG is CH4. The
study of the flammability limits was focusing on the effect when N 2 gas was added
into the mixture of H2 enriched NG.

The experiment was run two times with different volume of N 2 which is 7 %
volume and 9 % volume with a constant volume of H2. The enrichment of H2 in the
mixture is 3 % volume of H2. The LFL and UFL of H2 enriched NG were
determined at concentration from 1 % volume to 14 % volume.
 4

1.5 Significant of Study

In this study, the effect of N2 dilution on the flammability limits in H2

enriched NG was investigated. Addition of N2 is said can reduce the flammability
limits of NG/H2/air mixture.

The rationale of this study is natural gas is one of the clean fuels nowadays. It
has the potential to be the favourite fuel based on the environmental and resources
aspect and capability to overcome Cold Start Phenomenon. But, H2 enriched NG is
very easy to flame and explode if we do not take a proper action to control the
hydrogen ratio. Dilution with inert gas like N2 is a common procedure to ensuring
safety in use of flammable gas like NG.

Inerting process which is adding an inert gas to a combustible mixture can

reduce the concentration of O2 for the purpose of lowering the likelihood explosion.
The characteristics of N2 which is one of the inert gas can reduce the concentration of
O2 in air by dilute it into the mixture.
 5

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Natural gas

Natural gas (NG) is composed almost entirely of methane although it does

contain small amounts of other gases like ethane, propane, butane, and pentane.
Methane (CH4) is composed of a molecule of one carbon atom and four hydrogen
atoms. NG is colorless, non-toxic, invisible and odorless, although an odorant is
added known as mercaptan. This odorant is an important safety measure because it
provides a distinct smell which is much like the smell of rotten eggs, in the event of
a gas leak.

NG is lighter than air and rapidly dissipates into the air when it is released.
When NG burns, a high-temperature blue flame is produced and complete
combustion takes place producing only water vapor and carbon dioxide (CO2). It
has a heating value of about 1000 BTUs per cubic foot. However, when it burns
improperly, it can produce carbon monoxide (CO) which is a deadly and poisonous
gas.

NG has a flammability range of approximately 5 to 15 %. That means that

any mixture containing less than 5 % or greater than 15 % NG to air would not
support combustion. NG when mixed with air and exposed to an ignition source is
combustible.

Industrial applications for natural gas are many including those same uses
found in residential and commercial settings like heating, cooling, and cooking.
 6

Natural gas is also used for waste treatment and incineration, metals preheating
(particularly for iron and steel), drying and dehumidification, glass melting, food
processing, and fueling industrial boilers. Natural gas may also be used as a
feedstock for the manufacturing of a number of chemicals and products. Gases such
as butane, ethane, and propane may be extracted from natural gas to be used as a
feedstock for such products as fertilizers and pharmaceutical products.

2.2 Hydrogen (H2) Enriched NG

The use of H2 as a supplemental fuel in conventional combustion engines has

generally shown decreased pollutant emissions primarily due to the lean burn
characteristics of H2 and a reduction of carbon in the fuel. The advantage of a lean
burn operation is its greater thermal efficiency due to its higher specific heat ratio
and combustion efficiency. But although lean burn has a lot of advantages it is also
associated with several difficulties including slower flame propagation speed and
increased ignition energy of the fuel-air mixtures.

H2 addition is thought to be an ideal approach to compensate these problems

since H2 has relatively fast laminar burning velocity and low ignition energy Karim
et al. theoretically studied the H2 as additive in NG fuelled internal combustion
engines. Their results showed that the addition of H2 into NG could decrease the
ignition delay and combustion duration at the same equivalence ratio. Liu et al.
investigated the influence of the excess air ratio and H2 fraction on the emissions
characteristics of a spark ignition engine fuelled with NG/H2 blends. Their results
showed that the excess air ratio has a significant effect on the NOx, CO, and CO 2
concentration for both pure NG and NG/H2 blends. Huang et al. investigated
experimentally the combustion characteristics in a direct-injection spark-ignited
engine fuelled with hydrogen-enriched compressed natural gas (HCNG) blends under
various ignition timings and lean mixture conditions. The results indicated that
ignition timing is an important parameter for the engine performance, combustion
and emissions. The concept of investigations of engine operations that is based on
the second law of thermodynamics is not a new technique. Availability is also called
as ‘exergy’. Rakopoulos et al. investigated the effect of mixing hydrogen into natural
 7

gas for direct-injection, diesel engine combustion from the second law perspective.
They used a single-zone computational model of the engine operation for the
investigations. Their results showed that second-law efficiency increases and
irreversibility generation decreases (as a percentage of the totally injected fuel
availability) with increasing engine load. Rakopoulos et al. investigated the effects of
H2 enrichment on the second law analysis of natural and landfill gas combustion in
diesel engine cylinders. They indicated that H2 may have particularly attractive
characteristics with regard to entropy generation during its use as a fuel, because its
combustion reaction is one of a combination of two relatively simple molecules into
a more complicated one. Rakopoulos and Michos investigated the generation of
combustion irreversibilities in a spark-ignition engine under biogas–hydrogen
mixtures fueling. They found that the addition of increasing amounts of H2 in biogas
promotes the degree of reversibility of the burning process mainly during the
combustion of the later burning gas, due to the incurred increase in its combustion
temperatures. (Hakan Ozcan 2009)

2.3 Nitrogen (N2) Dilution

Dilution with inert gas like N2 is a common procedure for ensuring safety in
the use of flammable gas. The procedure of dilution with inert gas like N2 can be
understood in two different ways. One is dilution of fuel with inert gas, and the other
is dilution of air with inert gas. (Shigeo et al 2006)

N2 dilution to fuel reduces the burning velocity remarkably by reducing the

thermal diffusivity and flame temperature of the mixture. With increased N2 dilution,
flame speed decreases. N2 dilution results in substantial reduction of laminar burning
velocity. The reasons for the substantial reduction of burning velocity due to N2
dilution in the fuel at a given equivalence ratio are the decrease in heat release and
the increase in heat capacity of the mixture with dilution. (Prathap et al 2008).
The dilution effect of N2 is very different for compounds of ethylene,
dimethyl ether and ammonia. This may be understandable because these compounds
have very different flammability characteristics from the usual fuel compounds like
NG. For example, ethylene has a tendency to explosive decomposition, dimethyl
 8

ether has a tendency to produce cool flames and ammonia is extremely weak in its
flammability compared to usual fuel compounds like NG. (Shigeo et al 2006).

2.4 Flammability Limits

Flammability limits, also called flammable limits, or explosive limits give the
proportion of combustible gases in a mixture, between which limits this mixture is
flammable based on the range shown in figure 2.1. Gas mixtures consisting of
combustible, oxidizing, and inert gases are only flammable under certain conditions.
The lower flammable limit (LFL) (lower explosive limit) describes the leanest
mixture that is still flammable, i.e. the mixture with the smallest fraction of
combustible gas, while the upper flammable limit (UFL) (upper explosive limit)
gives the richest flammable mixture. Increasing the fraction of inert gases in a
mixture raises the LFL and decreases UFL.

Figure 2.1: Schematic represents flammability limit

Flammability limits data are essential for a quantitative risk assessment of

explosion hazard associated with the use of combustible gas. The present work is to
obtain the fundamental flammability data for prevention of the hazards in the
practical applications. Knowledge of the explosion hazards of gaseous fuels is of
importance to ensure the safety in industrial and domestic applications that produce
 9

or use flammable mixtures. There is no question that the flammability limits is a

most widely used index for representing the flammability characteristics of gases. In
accordance with generally accepted usage, the flammability limits are known as
those regions of fuel–air ratio within which flame propagation can be possible and
beyond which flame cannot propagate. And there are two distinct separate
flammability limits for the fuel–air mixture, namely, the leanest fuel-limit up to
which the flame can propagate is termed as lower flammability limit (LFL), and the
richest limit is called as upper flammability limit (UFL). There are several criteria to
determine the flammability limits. First is inspection of the visualization of the flame
kernel produce by the spark, namely visual criterion. Second is the measurement of
the pressure or temperature histories in the vessel and appropriate pressure or
temperature rise criteria can be used to designate flammability rather than the purely
visual observation of the flame development. (Liao et al 2005)

H2 enrichment is a possible option to extend the flammability limits because

H2 has a wider flammable mixture range, lower ignition energy, faster flame
propagation rate compare to NG. These characteristics help to improve the lean burn
capability (Fanhua et al 2008).

2.4.1 Lower Flammability Limit

The flammable limit of a gas or a vapor is the limiting concentration (in air)
that is needed for the gas to ignite and explode. The lowest concentration
(percentage) of a gas or vapor in air is capable of producing a flash of fire in
presence of an ignition source (arch, flame, heat). At concentration in air below the
LFL there is no fuel to continue an explosion. Concentrations lower than LFL are
"too lean" to burn. For example, CH4 gas has a LFL of 4.4 % (at 138 ˚C) by volume,
meaning 4.4 % of the total volume of the air consists of CH4. At 20 ˚C the LFL is
5.1 % by volume. If the atmosphere has less than 5.1 % methane, an explosion
cannot occur even if a source of ignition is present. When CH4 concentration reaches
5 % an explosion can occur if there is an ignition source. Each combustible gas has
its own LFL concentration. These percentages should not be confused with LFL
instrumentation readings. Instruments designed and calibrated to read LFL also read
 10

as percent values. A 5 % displayed LFL reading for CH4 for example would be
equivalent to 5 % multiplied by 5 or 0.25 % CH4 by volume at 20 ˚C.

2.4.2 Upper Flammability Limit

Highest concentration (percentage) of a gas or a vapor in air is capable of

producing a flash of fire in presence of an ignition source such as arch, flame and
heat. Concentration higher than UFL are "too rich" to burn. UFL is also called Upper
Explosive Limit (UEL).

2.5 Nitrogen Dilution Effect on the Flammability Limits

Inerting is the process of adding an inert gas to a combustible mixture to

reduce the concentration of O2 below the limiting oxygen concentration (LOC) for
the purpose of lowering the likelihood of explosion. In process industries, the inert
gas is usually N2 or CO2, although sometimes steam may be used. Because the
procedure of diluting a combustible gas with inert gas could be also taken as a
mixing process of flammable gas and inert gas, Kondo et al. have attempted to
modify the Le Chatelier equation so that it could be extended to the case of a mixture
of flammable gases and inert gases.

The following assumptions were included in their work.

i. At LFL, the heat of combustion per mole of a mixture composed of
fuel gas and inert gas is equal to the heat of combustion per mole of
pure fuel gas times the molar fraction of the fuel gas in the mixture
(i.e., adding inert gas to fuel gas does not change the reaction
mechanism at LFL)
ii. The heat release is the same for all limit mixtures at LFL
iii. The fuel gas would react completely when combustion takes place at
LFL
iv. At UFL, the ratio of the number of moles of O2 required to burn one
mole of the mixture of fuel gas and inert gas to the number of moles
of O2 required to burn one mole of pure fuel gas equals the molar
 11

fraction of the fuel gas in the mixture (i.e., adding the inert gas to the
fuel gas does not change the reaction mechanism at UFL)
v. O2 would react completely when combustion takes place at UFL
vi. The heat release is the same for all limit mixtures at UFL.

Usually the LFL and UFL of a combustible material are expressed in volume
percentage (vol%) in the literature; however, as the hydrocarbon gas could be taken
as an ideal gas at atmospheric pressure, the LFL and UFL could also be explained as
the molar fraction. To avoid misleading the meaning in formulation, three
terminologies are defined here:

i. Fuel mixture – the mixture composed of hydrocarbon and air (no inert
gas);
ii. Blended gas – the mixture composed of hydrocarbon and inert
nitrogen (no air);
iii. Total mixture – the mixture composed of the blended gas and air.

The assumptions presumed true in formulation are listed as follows.

(U1) oxygen gas reacts completely at UFL.

(U2) the stoichiometric relation of a combustion reaction occurring at UFL
does not change by the presence of inert gas.
(U3) the adiabatic temperature rises are the same for all limit mixtures at
UFL.
(L1) the hydrocarbon reacts completely at LFL.
(L2) the stoichiometric relation of a combustion reaction occurring at LFL
does not change by the presence of inert gas;
(L3) the adiabatic temperature rises are the same for all limit mixtures at
LFL

It is well known that the flammable material is the lean reactant when
combustion occurs at LFL, while O2 gas is the lean reactant when combustion occurs
at UFL. Thus, assumptions U1 and L1 merely stated that the lean component will be
consumed completely in a burning process occurring at flammability limits.
 12

Assumptions U2 and L2 stated that the stoichiometry of the combustion reaction at

both lower/upper flammability limits does not change by the presence of inert gas.
With the aids of these two assumptions, the heat released for the blended gas from
the heat of combustion of pure hydrocarbon could be estimated. These two
assumptions are popular assumptions for those works which use the calculated
adiabatic flame temperatures to estimate the flammability limits. It should be
addressed here that although these two assumptions are very popular in the literature,
experimental results do show that the stoichiometry of a combustion reaction
occurring at flammability limits might change in the presence of inert gas. The
change in stoichiometry could be easily understood from the fact that if an inert gas
was added to hydrocarbon/oxidant mixture, the range of concentrations between the
UFL and LFL would considerably narrow down and finally converge to a point
which is usually known as the inertization point. The lean reactant of a combustion
reaction occurring at UFL is different from that of a combustion occurring at LFL;
therefore, the stoichiometry of a combustion reaction must change by adding inert
gas, because these two flammability limits finally converge to the inertization point.
However, it is also obvious that assumptions U2 and L2 are true when the
concentration of inert gas is low.

The combustion reaction would continue only if the heat released by the
combustion reaction can raise the temperature of the unburned materials to beyond a
temperature threshold and this temperature threshold was usually expressed as the
adiabatic flame temperature rise of the combustion system. The energy released at
flammability limits is deemed to be the one just sufficient to make the temperature of
the combustion system reach this temperature threshold. It is widely accepted that
inert gas is not involved in the reaction mechanism of a combustion reaction, so it
seems reasonable to assume that this temperature threshold like the adiabatic flame
temperature rise does not change by adding inert gas. Moreover, it was also reported
that the calculated adiabatic flame temperature of LFL was found be around 1400K
at different concentrations of inert N2 for some hydrocarbons. Bases on
aforementioned facts, it seems reasonable to assume that the adiabatic flame
temperature does not change as inert gas is added to a flammable hydrocarbon, thus
assumptions L3 and U3 are adopted in this study. (Chen et al 2009)
 13

2.6 Explosion in Closed Vessel

Knowledge of pressure–time variation during explosions of fuel–air mixtures

in enclosures is a very important component of safety recommendations for a wide
range of human activities, connected to production, transportation or use of fuels.
The characteristic parameters of a closed vessel explosion are the explosion pressure,
the explosion time and the maximum rate of pressure rise. The explosion pressure
and explosion time were recently defined in the European standard on maximum
explosion pressure determination which is

(i) the explosion pressure, Pexp is the highest pressure reached

during the explosion in a closed volume at a given fuel
concentration
(ii) the maximum explosion pressure, Pmax is the highest pressure
reached during a series of explosions of mixtures with varying
fuel concentration
(iii) the explosion time, θexp is the time interval between ignition and
the moment when the explosion pressure is attained

Explosion pressures and explosion times are important also for calculating
laminar burning velocities from closed vessel experiments, vent area design and
characterizing transmission of explosions between interconnected vessels. Recent
data on gas explosions were obtained from experiments in a spherical 20 L closed
vessel with central ignition, produced by a fusing wire, a pyrotechnical ignitor or
capacitive electric sparks. In fact, this is the vessel recommended by the recent
European standards, for flammability and explosion pressure measurements. Few
data measured according to European standard are however available, especially for
mixtures at pressures and/or temperatures different from ambient. (Domnina et al
2006)
 14

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Experimental Apparatus

The experimental 20-L- Apparatus which is 20 Liter Spherical Explosion

Vessel was obtained from Adolf Kühner AG and is shown in figure 3.1. The test
chamber is a stainless steel hollow sphere with a personal computer (PC) interface.

Figure 3.1: Schematic diagram of 20-L-Explosion Vessel

(Ch. Cesana, and R.Siwek ,2006)
 15

3.1.1 20-L-Sphere

The test chamber is a hollow sphere made of stainless steel with a volume of
20 liters. A water jacket serves to dissipate the heat of explosion or to maintain
thermostatically controlled test temperatures. The top of the cover contains holes for
the lead wires to the ignition system. The opening provides for ignition which is
controlled by the KSEP 320 unit of 20-L-Sphere. The KSEP 332 unit uses
piezoelectric pressure sensor’s to measure the pressure as a function of time. A
comprehensive software package KSEP 6.0 is used to allow safe operation of the test
equipment and an optimum evaluation of the explosion test results. The schematic
diagram for the experimental set up of the 20-L-Sphere and the software KSEP is
shown in figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2: Schematic diagram of experimental set up

(Ch. Cesana, and R.Siwek, 2006)
 16

3.1.2 Measurement and Control System KSEP 332

The KSEP 332 unit as shown in figure 3.3 uses piezoelectric pressure
sensor’s to measure the pressure as a function of time and controls the valves as well
as the ignition system of the 20-L-Apparatus. The measured values to be processed
by a personal computer are digitized at high resolution. The use of two completely
independent measuring channels gives good security against erroneous
measurements and allows for self checking. For the determination of combustible
gases or vapors, the test accomplished in a quiescent state which is the ignition delay
time, tv is equal to 0 s.

Figure 3.3: Schematic of KSEP 332

(Ch. Cesana, and R.Siwek, 2006)
 17

3.2 Experimental Condition

The flammability limits of NG/air mixture, NG/H2/air mixture and NG/H2/air

mixture with N2 dilution for 7 % volume and 9 % volume of N2 were investigated at
NG concentration from 1 % volume to 14 % volume. The other experimental
condition is shown in figure 3.1.

Table 3.1 Test condition of the experiment

Pressure 1 bar absolute

Temperature Ambient temperature
Mixture state Quiescent state
Ignition energy 10 J
Ignition delay time, tv 0s

3.2.1 Pressure and temperature

The initial pressure in the 20-L-Sphere is regulated to 1 bar absolute. A water

jacket to dissipate the heat of explosions or to maintain thermostatically controlled
test temperatures. It is necessary to keep the operating temperature at approximately
20 ˚C by means of water cooling, whereby the operating temperature would
correspond to room temperature. Therefore, there is always some flow of water and
so that the outlet temperature of the cooling medium never exceeds 25 ˚C.

3.2.2 Ignition

Ignition is achieved by permanent spark which placed in the centre of the

vessel. Since experiment was conducted under quiescent conditions, ignition energy
(IE) is 10 J and the ignition delay time is 0 s. The igniter releases 10 J independently
of pressure or temperature. The pressure evolution after ignition is measured with a
Kistler 701A piezoelectric pressure transducer connected to a Charge amplifier
(Kistler 5041B).