Estimation of the upper flammability limits for alkanes in air at increased pressures

Abstract

A method is proposed to predict the upper flammability limits for alkanes in air at increased pressures. The upper flammability limits for methane, ethane, propane and n-butane/air mixtures at ambient temperature and initial pressure of 0.3 MPa–2.0 MPa are identified through the adiabatic flame temperature calculation model. The association of calculated adiabatic flame temperature with pressure is presented to determine the upper flammability limit. Research shows the good agreement between the forecast upper flammability limits with pressure dependence and the experimental upper flammability limit values. The average relative error of the estimated upper flammability limits for alkanes in air at high pressures reaches 2.52%.

Keywords

• upper flammability limit
• adiabatic flame temperature
• high pressure
• alkanes