A study on detonation safety of some hydrocarbon‐air mixtures

Hazards caused by detonation of hydrocarbon‐air mixtures have been a matter of concern for a long time. In this paper, critical initiation energy of detonation of some hydrocarbon air mixtures have been measured in confined (rectangle shock tube tests) and unconfined (plastic bag tests) condition. Based on the concept of explosion length, a formula for estimating the critical initiation energy of detonation under unconfined condition is presented. Detonation safety analysis of the studied hydrocarbons is carried out using the experimental results.